Powell upbeat on Israeli moves on Palestinian ballot

JERUSALEM - US Secretary of State Colin Powell said Israeli leaders have told him that Israel would "co-operate and co-ordinate" with the Palestinians over the presidential election they plan to hold in January.

Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom, at a news conference with Powell, said Israel would do "everything in its power to ensure the smooth running" of the January 9 ballot to choose a successor to the late Yasser Arafat.

"I am pleased at what I heard from the prime minister and the foreign minister about Israel's willingness to co-operate and co-ordinate with the Palestinian Authority as they prepare for these elections and make it possible for Palestinians to participate, to include those in East Jerusalem," Powell said.

Palestinian leaders have called on Israel to pull its troops back from West Bank cities and allow Arab residents of Israeli-annexed East Jerusalem to take part in the poll.

Powell, who was to meet Palestinian leaders in the West Bank town of Jericho later in the day, said he did not get into specifics in his talks in Jerusalem on what steps Israel might take ahead of the election.

Shalom said that Israel was trying to find a middle ground whereby Palestinians in East Jerusalem could vote without their participation appearing to challenge the Jewish state's claim of sovereignty over all of Jerusalem.

- REUTERS