Jailed Palestinian Marwan Barghouthi was emerging as one of the most popular candidates in an early count of a vote in the West Bank town of Ramallah, called to choose people to run for Fatah in Palestinian elections in January, an official said on Friday.About 1,000 people are seeking 132 places to run for Fatah, the ruling Palestinian faction, in Palestinian Legislative Council elections in January.Barghouthi (46), a charismatic grassroots leader serving five life terms in jail for attacks against Israel, is seen as a potential future successor to President Mahmoud Abbas were he to be released from prison. Barghouthi is an icon of the younger generation of Palestinian leaders, who grew up in the Palestinian territories. The Fatah primary vote was seen as a test of the popularity of the younger generation and of an old guard that thrived under Arafat and which Palestinians widely see as corrupt and incompetent. Palestinians last voted in a parliamentary election in 1996. —Reuters
