Arafat promises elections within a few months.

Byline: Vincent J. Schodolski

JERUSALEM _ Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat said Thursday that he would organize presidential, legislative and local elections within a few months, but he did not link them to his previous demand that Israel withdraw its troops before any voting.

"In the winter there will be elections for the open (legislative) council and the presidential election as well," Arafat told Reuters. He added that regional and municipal polls also would take place by the end of the year.

The news agency said it was the first time Arafat had set times for elections without the condition of an Israeli withdrawal. Last week he said elections could be held only when Israeli occupation ended, but in the Reuters interview he said the polls were not conditional on an Israeli military pullback.

His statement seemed to indicate a new level of commitment to reform, but a senior Arafat aide suggested that problems remained.

"That is what he said," said Saeb Erekat, a senior aide to Arafat. "That does not mean that it is not necessary to create the right conditions for the election."

Earlier Thursday, the five members of the Palestinian Election Commission resigned, with some Palestinian observers suggesting that the move was a protest over Arafat's reluctance to set a date for elections.

Other observers, however, said it was nothing more than routine.

Hanan Ashrawi, a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, played down the resignations.

"Things got blown out of proportion. . . . It's only procedural. It's not a protest. It's a formal legal step," she said.

She said that some of the election committee members have been appointed to other posts and that there is supposed to be a new election committee for every election. She said Arafat had been considering holding elections within six months, by early fall or winter.

Erekat, who is in charge of the logistical aspects of the proposed elections, said 1.2 million to 1.3 million voters had to be registered and he expected about 25,000 candidates. He said conditions in the Palestinian territories would make this difficult.

In response to attacks on Israelis by Palestinian bombers, Israeli authorities have cracked down on Palestinian areas, severely curtailing Palestinians' movement within those areas and transit into Israel.

Israeli officials are suggesting that Palestinian areas be broken up into sectors and that permits be required for travel and movement of goods between sectors. Reports indicate that the permits would have to be renewed monthly. There are also proposals to separate Israel from Palestinian areas with fences.

"Can you imagine under the present circumstances that we would have free registration?" Erekat asked. "To have free elections we need to have the free movement of people."

On Wednesday, Arafat and aides met with representatives of groups seeking to oversee reforms within the Palestinian Authority.

"Various goals of reform were discussed," said Christina Gallach, an aide to Javier Solana, the foreign minister for the European Union. She said representatives of the EU, the U.S., the U.N. and Russia were part of the discussions concerning Palestinian progress toward free and fair elections, security guarantees and transparent forms of governance.

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(Chicago Tribune correspondent Christine Spolar contributed to this report.)

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