Barghouti enters election race

GAZA CITY, Gaza, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- Marwan Barghouti, a Palestinian leader now in jail, has been entered in next month's presidential election to succeed the late Yasser Arafat.

The nomination papers were filed by his wife Wednesday hours before a deadline, the BBC reported.

Prior to Barghouti's entry into the race, interim leader Mahmoud Abbas was expected to win easily.

Fatah, the main Palestinian faction, condemned the move, with one spokesman calling it "irresponsible" because only last week, Barghouti issued a statement denying he would run in the Jan. 9 and had backed Abbas.