Marwan Barghouti

An Israeli court on Thursday convicted Marwan Barghouti, a firebrand Palestinian leader who has long been viewed as the most likely successor to Yasser Arafat, in the deaths of five people in terrorist attacks. In a slap at the prosecution, however, the three-judge panel acquitted Barghouti in connection with 21 other killings, saying there was insufficient evidence linking him to the deaths.

An Israeli court sent popular Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti to prison for life Sunday for his role in deadly attacks on Israelis, sidelining a possible successor to Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat. Barghouti was given five consecutive life terms and 40 years -- the maximum sentence -- after he was convicted last month of involvement in shootings that killed four Israelis and a Greek monk. The ruling said Barghouti was "involved up to his neck in terror activity."

Imprisoned Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti has decided to run for the post of Palestinian Authority president in Jan. 9 elections, his associates said Thursday, a move that could pose a major challenge to the traditional leadership. Barghouti has decided to seek the top Palestinian post, said Saad Nimr, who heads a campaign seeking Barghouti's release from Israeli prison, where he is serving multiple life terms. Nimr said Barghouti would issue a formal statement today.

A spokesman for Marwan Barghouti said Friday that the jailed Palestinian leader had decided not to run for president of the Palestinian Authority after all and would back the nominee of his Fatah faction, Mahmoud Abbas. The announcement, made on Barghouti's behalf at a news conference in the West Bank city of Ramallah, came a day after associates said Barghouti was determined to seek the presidency, left vacant by the Nov. 11 death of Yasser Arafat.

Less than two weeks after declaring his candidacy, imprisoned uprising leader Marwan Barghouti has abandoned his bid to become Palestinian Authority president in the Jan. 9 election, his campaign manager said Sunday. The move appears to clear the way for Mahmoud Abbas, the new chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization and the official candidate of its dominant Fatah faction, to succeed the late Yasser Arafat as Palestinian Authority president.

He's jailed, isolated and on trial for terrorism, but Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti still holds sway over turbulent Palestinian politics. Last week, Israel's most famous Palestinian prisoner reached beyond his cell to craft a fragile truce. Now, his fate could be an early measure of whether that peace will stick or fail.