Palestinians vote for a new leader

A big show of support is vital if Abbas is to claim a mandate for peacemaking, but turnout looked patchy in some West Bank cities before polling was extended by two hours. Abbas supporters rushed to get voters out.

Election officials said the extension was needed because some voters were held up at Israeli Army checkpoints.

But while international monitors reported initial confusion at polling stations in Arab East Jerusalem, they said Israel had kept its promise to ease passage through checkpoints.

‘‘Anecdotal evidence coming in is that restrictions have been quite effectively lifted,’’ said Les Campbell, a spokesman for foreign observers led by former US President Jimmy Carter.

Officials with megaphones urged people to vote in parts of the West Bank where initial turnout was low and members of Abbas’s Fatah movement offered people lifts to polling stations.

Analysts said to build a mandate for peace talks, Abbas needed at least 60 per cent of the vote and a large turnout among the 1.8 million eligible voters — both uncertain because of the boycott by Islamic groups.

As if to underscore the problems facing Abbas if he wins the presidency, Palestinian militants fired at least two rockets into Israel from the Gaza Strip. There were no casualties, but Abbas has demanded such strikes stop.

In a possible show of solidarity with Palestinian militants, the Lebanese Hizbollah group attacked an Israeli patrol in a disputed area of the border, killing an Israeli officer.

Israel responded with an air strike against suspected Hizbollah positions and artillery fire. UN sources in Beirut said a French officer with a truce monitoring force was killed. —Reuters