Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas said in a presidential campaign speech Monday he would never take up arms against militant groups a US-sponsored peace "roadmap" calls to be dismantled. 

"They are freedom fighters ... and should live a dignified and safe life," said Abbas, whose call for an end to violence in a 4-year-old Palestinian uprising has been rejected by militants whose support he is courting in the January 9 election.

Abbas, front-runner in the race, said he was determined to ensure the rule of law prevailed in the Palestinian territories, a message to militant groups.

But he said he would achieve that goal through "dialogue and discussion" as he pursued national unity.

"Palestinians taking up arms against each other will not happen," Abbas pledged.

The violence-stalled roadmap, charting mutual steps with Israel towards creation of a Palestinian state, calls for the Palestinian Authority to begin "operations aimed at confronting all those engaged in terror, and dismantlement of terrorist capabilities and infrastructure."

Palestinian gunmen, including a militant leader on Israel's most-wanted list, hoisted Abbas, the candidate of the mainstream Fatah faction, on their shoulders during a campaign appearance in the West Bank town of Jenin last week.

On NBC television's "Meet The Press" program on Sunday, US Secretary of State Colin Powell described the scene as "disturbing" but said Abbas "has to reach out to all parts of the Palestinian community."

Abbas, in his campaign speech, said Palestinians were ready to make peace with Israel "built on justice and rights." He repeated core demands, such as a right of return for refugees to homes now in the Jewish state, long rejected by Israel.

However, the Palestinian Minister for Prisoner Affairs Hisham Abdel said on Sunday Israel would not allow Palestinians held in Israeli prisons to vote in the upcoming elections for Palestinian president.

Israel pulls out troops

As Abbas called on militants to halt the barrages, Israel pulled its tanks and troops out of northern Gaza a few hours after they went in to stop rocket and mortar fire at Israeli villages.

In the hours before a dozen tanks crossed into Gaza, an Israel was critically wounded in a mortar attack on an industrial park at Gaza crossing, and several rockets fell in Sderot, an Israeli tow just outside Gaza, damaging houses.

A Palestinian cameraman working for an Israeli TV station was shot and seriously wounded by Israeli soldiers in northern Gaza, Palestinians and local media said. The Israeli military had no comment.

(China Daily January 4, 2005)