The Palestinian Islamic militant group Hamas has said it would boycott a Jan. 9 presidential election for a successor to Yasser Arafat.
"We in the Islamic resistance announce our boycott and our non-participation in the presidential elections for the Palestinian Authority," Ismail Haniyeh, a senior Hamas leader, told reporters in Gaza City.
Hamas had indicated previously it would not take part in the election, calling instead for a share of power in an interim post-Arafat leadership and a parliamentary vote.
The favourite to succeed Arafat is Mahmoud Abbas, the candidate of the mainstream Fatah movement.