IT IS the same wherever you look, be it on the anarchic streets of the Gaza Strip and West Bank or within the formal discussions of the Israeli Cabinet room — Palestinians and Israelis are searching for an heir to the throne of Yassir Arafat.

Increasingly, too, one name is being mentioned by the powerbrokers on both sides, that of a man serving five life terms in an Israeli jail for his part in gun ambushes and suicide bombings.

For Palestinians, the popularity of Marwan Barghouti, the 45-year-old West Bank leader of Arafat’s Fatah group, seems to be unassailable. His Young Turk, home-grown image contrasts with that of the ageing elite in Arafat’s court, who returned with him from exile a decade ago and who are widely seen by a new generation as incompetent and corrupt.

For Israelis, however, the emergence of Barghouti poses a conundrum: is it in their interests to release a man from prison who is serving a 150-year murder sentence as part of the search for a stable partner in peace? That Barghouti’s incarceration in Beer Sheva prison dominated the Israeli Cabinet’s weekly meeting gives a strong sense that in the minds of many people his freedom is tied up with the relaunch of peace talks.

A shooting incident in Gaza City on Sunday, when two Palestinian security guards were killed as disaffected members of Fatah staged a bullet- spraying act of defiance against Mahmoud Abbas, the new leader of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation and a presidential candidate, is seen as evidence that this transitional period will not be smooth.

A survey asking Palestinians about their favoured leaders — carried out before Arafat’s death — showed Barghouti in second place behind Arafat and a long way ahead of Mr Abbas.

Ariel Sharon, the Israeli Prime Minister, is acutely conscious of pressure from the United States to restore momentum to peace talks and has already signalled that he will allow Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem to vote in the January 9 election to choose Arafat’s successor.

In a Cabinet row over releasing Barghouti, Mr Sharon did not make his position on the subject explicit, merely stating that in the past Israel had not released convicted murderers who had committed their deeds on Israeli soil. Avraham Poraz, his Interior Minister, spoke in favour of Barghouti’s release, but it seems clear that the view in Washington will be crucial in any decision.

Barghouti denies the murder charges, but his conviction served only to increase his popularity among Palestinians. He is yet to reveal if he intends to be a candidate, even from behind bars, in the election.

Marwan Barghouti

• 1958: Born Marwan Barghouti in the village of Kubar, near Ramallah, in the West Bank
• 1987: Arrested during the first intifada. Served five years in prison and deported to Jordan
• 1994: Elected Fatah’s West Bank secretary after returning home under the Oslo peace accords
• 1996: Elected as a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council
• 2000: Supported the outbreak of second intifada
• 2002: Publicly named as founder of al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades’ suicide squads. Arrested and put on trial for multiple murder. Serving five life sentences in an Israeli jail

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