Palestinians on Sunday held their first presidential election in nine years, choosing a successor to longtime leader Yasser Arafat in a vote that many hoped would revitalize the Mideast peace process. Mahmoud Abbas, candidate of Arafat's ruling Fatah movement, was expected to win easily. Israel said it is ready to meet with Abbas shortly after the election. Senior officials said that Israel is prepared to release Palestinian prisoners if Abbas can halt Palestinian rocket attacks launched from the Gaza Strip. Polls opened at 7 a.m. (0500 GMT), with 1.8 million Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Al-Quds city eligible to vote. Preliminary results were expected shortly after the polls closed at 7 p.m. (1700 GMT). Abbas, accompanied by his family, cast his vote at the Palestinian headquarters building in Ramallah. "I'm happy because I've exercised my right to vote," he said. "The election is going well and that indicates that the Palestinian people are heading toward democracy." According to opinion polls, Abbas holds a clear lead over his leading challenger, democracy activist Mustafa Barghouti. The Israeli army eased travel restrictions and took other measures in Palestinian areas to facilitate Sunday's election. Hundreds of international observers from Europe, Japan and the United States were also on hand. Only minor problems were reported in Gaza and the West Bank. Only a small fraction of the estimated 120,000 eligible Palestinian voters in Al-Quds were permitted to cast ballots in the city, at special centers set up at Israeli post offices. The vast majority of Al-Quds' Arabs were forced to travel to special polling centers in suburbs. International observers said many voters arrived at the post offices, only to learn that their names were not on the registration lists. "It's very confused," former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, who was leading a team of observers, told The Associated Press.
