GAZA, Sept. 21 (UPI) -- A public-opinion poll published Monday indicates Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat is the strongest of 11 candidates in possible presidential elections.
The poll by the Development Studies Program at Birzeit University also found 75 percent of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza support elections, including presidential elections.
Arafat received 46 percent support, far more than any of the other 10 candidates. Marwan al Barghouti, leader of Fatah in the West Bank who is serving a sentence of life imprisonment in Israel, came in second at just 11 percent.
In a contest between Arafat and Islamic Hamas senior leader Mahmoud Zahar, Arafat would poll 58 percent vs. 25 percent for Zahar, the poll showed.
Seventy-three percent of those queried said they support holding presidential elections, 82 percent said they would support legislative elections and 85 percent said they would support municipal elections.
Fatah Movement is the most popular movement among Palestinians with 35 percent support, followed by Hamas and Islamic Jihad, with 32 percent apiece.
