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Occupied Jerusalem: Israel's defence minister proposed yesterday that voting be allowed in East Jeru-salem in this month's Palestinian election, moving to end a standoff that threatened to derail the parliamentary poll. Shaul Mofaz said Arabs in East Jerusalem would be permitted to cast ballots there, appearing to back away from Israel's threat to block the voting because it objected to participation by candidates from the militant group Hamas. An official in Mofaz's office later said the defence minister was expressing his personal opinion rather than government policy. Later yesterday, acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that Israel would make a final decision on the issue at Sunday's Cabinet meeting.
Olemrt's office said in a statement that "terror organisations and representatives of them will not be able to participate in elections in Jerusalem". A deal to allow voting in East Jerusalem would remove a major obstacle to the January 25 election.
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