ZABABDEH, West Bank, Nov. 23 (UPI) -- A Christian who wants U.S. officials out of the Mideast peace process has declared his candidacy for Yasser Arafat's job, the Jerusalem Post reported Tuesday.
Ghassan Barham, 52, is a Christian lawyer from a West Bank village near Jenin who describes his chances in the Jan. 9 election as "very good."
Barham's declared opponents are Nablus political scientist Abdel Sattar Qassem and Talal al-Sider, a former Hamas activist from Hebron who served as minister of sports in the PA cabinet. Fatah has asked PLO Chairman Mahmoud Abbas to be its candidate while Hamas and the Islamic Jihad have said they intend to boycott the presidential elections.
"We promise to thwart any American role in settling the Palestinian cause," he said. "We want the U.N., France, China, and Russia to replace the U.S., which does not deserve to assume the role of honest broker.
Said Barham: "The U.S. finances Israel and supports it in carrying out its crimes against the Palestinian people. The U.S. was never our friend and we don't trust the Americans."
He also vowed to fight PA corruption.
"Corruption is everywhere in Palestinian institutions and I will launch, if elected, a merciless non-stop war on corruption," he said, adding, "The current leadership is old and corrupt."
He also believes the U.N.'s 1947 partition plan should be the basis for peace with Israel.
