Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, whose political future is under threat from the United States, will run in elections scheduled for January next year, a Palestinian cabinet member said Wednesday. "My information is that he (Arafat) will run for election again," Palestinian minister Nabil Shaath told a London news briefing. In a speech Monday charting a course for a road map to Middle East peace, U.S. President George Bush told Palestinians they must elect a new leadership "not compromised by terror" -- remarks taken as shorthand for an end to Arafat's rule. (Read photo caption)

Analysts have said the veteran Palestinian leader would be likely to win any presidential poll, and the Palestinian Authority has stressed that only elections, not outsiders, can dictate who leads their people.

Shaath said the Islamic militant group Hamas could make a strong showing were legislative elections to be held in the current political climate.

"Hamas will probably make a significant showing and might even take over a majority of the parliament. Their threat to the presidency is less," he said.

OCCUPATION ARMY ARRESTS 9 PALESTINIAN IN WEST BANK SWEEPS

The occupation army arrested 9 Palestinians in the towns of Dura, tubas, and Hebron overnight and early Wednesday.

Meanwhile, explosive charges were hurled at occupation troops in Nablus and in the Balata refugee camp. There were no injuries in the attacks.

Elsewhere, the occupation army has thrown a closure on Hebron and is calling upon Palestinian forces holed up inside the PA's headquarters to surrender, Israel Radio said. Heavy exchanges of gunfire are being reported.

Occupation forces blew up several so-called suspicious vehicles belonging to Palestinians in the territories in controlled detonations

Further south, in the Gaza Strip, the occupation army Wednesday detonated a tunnel dug between Egypt PA areas.
The tunnel, dug five meters dovn, was used to smuggle armaments into Rafah.

PALESTINIAN TARGETED NUCLEAR BOMB WAREHOUSE

Six Palestinians arrested this week near Beit Shemesh were on their way to carry out a bomb attack at a warehouse where nuclear bombs and Jericho surface-to-surface missiles are stored.

Quoting a British report, Israeli radio said the Shin Bet, which set off warnings and captured the suspects on Monday, thwarted the attack.

Security officials were quoted as denying the report, the radio said.

Foreign reports say Israel stores these weapons in a depot near Moshav Zecharya, not far from Beit Shemesh.

PHOTO CAPTION

(L) Palestinian President Yasser Arafat is seen with a bodyguard during a meeting with French Foreign Minister Dominique De Villepin at his besieged compound in the West Bank City of Ramallah June 25, 2002. A Palestinian cabinet member said Wednesday Arafat would run for president in January. (Ammar Awad/Reuters); (R) A Palestinian detainee looks at Israeli soldiers standing in position at the Al Khader checkpoint in the West Bank Tuesday June 25, 2002. Israeli soldiers stormed the Palestinian headquarters in the city of Hebron early Tuesday. (AP Photo/ZOOM 77)