Abbas is ringed by bodyguards and aides as he steps out of the mourning tent (AFP)

GAZA CITY, November 15 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – As Palestinians prepare for post-Arafat era, the leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization Mahmmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) escaped late Sunday, November 14, a shooting spree unhurt as he visited a mourning tent for the former emblematic Palestinian president.

Gunmen made their way into the Gaza tent, firing shots in the air and killing two members of the security services, underlining fears the Palestinian leader's death could trigger an upsurge in lawlessness, reported Agence France-Presse  (AFP).,

Hospital sources named the two fatalities as a member of Arafat's elite Force 17 unit and a member of the preventive security service. Four other people were wounded, they added.

Witnesses and an AFP correspondent at the scene said more than 1,000 people were in the tent at the time of the shooting.

The gunfire triggered scenes of panic as people fled the tent, although Abbas, ringed by aides and guards, remained calm.

Feud

Abbas, the clear favorite to succeed Arafat as president of the Palestinian Authority, insisted that the lengthy fire exchange was the result of a feud between gunmen rather than an assassination attempt.

In brief comments to Palestinian television, Abbas said there appeared to have "been friction between armed men and they started shooting in the air".

"There is no political or personal dimension to what happened," he added.

Abbas had traveled to Gaza after a series of political meetings in the West Bank designed to ensure a smooth transition of power.

A source inside the dominant Fatah faction's central committee said members had already unanimously agreed on Abbas as their candidate for the January 9 election decided in a presidential decree Sunday by the caretaker of the PA, speaker of the parliament Rawhi Fatouh.

"The Fatah central committee has chosen Abu Mazen as its candidate for the presidential elections on January 9," one official, who is a member of the faction's decision-making body, told AFP on condition of anonymity.

However committee member Abbas Zaki said that members had still to make a decision on who would contest the polls, which will be only the second time that the Palestinian people have had the opportunity to elect their leader.

Unpopular

The 69-year-old Abbas, who was appointed head of the Palestine Liberation Organization last week after Arafat's death in a Paris hospital, lacks broad popular support but his election would be warmly welcomed in both Israel and the United States.

While Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and US President George W. Bush boycotted Arafat, both men played host to Abbas during negotiations last year.

The bilateral peace process has made next to no progress since Abbas quit as prime minister in September 2003 after a bruising battle with Arafat for greater control of the sprawling Palestinian security apparatus.

If confirmed, Abbas's candidature would effectively scupper suggestions that the jailed West Bank Fatah leader Marwan Barghouthi, whom polls show is the most popular politician, runs for the post from within the walls of his Israeli prison cell.

There have been widespread fears that Arafat's death could unleash a wave of violence, especially in Gaza which has been the scene of several deadly clashes between security services and armed factions in recent months.

Election Campaign

A file picture shows West Bank Fatah leader Marwan Barghouthi gesturing as he is led by Israeli police into the Tel Aviv district court (AFP)

The Palestinians are officially at the start of a 40-day period of mourning and candidates will not be able to put their names forward for another six days, acting Palestinian Authority leader Rawhi Fatouh told journalists.

"The election campaign will begin on December 27 and continue until January 8, the last day before the elections," he told journalists on Sunday.

Israel is likely to come under strong international pressure to allow the Palestinian residents of Al-Quds (occupied east Jerusalem) to take part in the election.

According to a report in the Haaretz daily, Washington is insisting Arab residents of east Jerusalem be allowed to vote for a Palestinian president and thus enhance his legitimacy.

East Jerusalem residents were allowed to take part in the only other elections when Arafat was chosen as the first head of the PA in 1996.

However, Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom, who is to meet US Secretary of State Colin Powell in Washington on Monday, said he opposed such a move this time because the final status of the disputed holy city had yet to be negotiated.