46 Palestinian Election Officials Resign

(AP/Washington Post)Mohammed Daraghmeh - Forty-six members of the Palestinian election commission resigned Saturday, saying they were pressured by Mahmoud Abbas's campaign and intelligence officials to abruptly change voting procedures during the Jan. 9 poll. Baha al-Bakri, a senior member of the commission, said, "We were visited by senior officials from Abu Mazen's campaign." During the meeting, shots were fired, and electoral officials said they recognized at least one gunman as a member of Palestinian intelligence services. The commission extended voting by two hours and allowed voters to cast their ballots in any location, enabling thousands of security force members, most of them Abbas supporters, to cast ballots near their posts.


2005-01-17 00:00:00

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