JERUSALEM, Jan. 25 (UPI) -- There were 31 candidates in Israeli prisons among those running in Wednesday's Palestinian parliamentary elections, including convicted terrorists.
One of the most prominent is Fatah's Marwan Barghouti, who is serving five life sentences for his involvement in terrorist attacks that killed five civilians, the Jerusalem Post reported.
"Marwan Barghouti is the most popular man in the Palestinian territories. All the polls show he is the most trusted and most of the people have confidence in him," said Dr. Nabil Kukali, who owns the Palestinian Center for Public Opinion.
This week, Barghouti was allowed to give television interviews to the Al-Jazeera television network and Britain's Channel 4 news, following a decision of the High Court of Justice.
Heavy turnout was reported Wednesday at polls in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem, where 1.3 million Palestinians were voting for the 132-seat assembly.
More than 13,000 police were monitoring security, and some 20,000 international observers were also attending.
