As the date set for holding presidential elections is lingering on, the Palestinians still don't know whom to choose to lead them after their leader Yasser Arafat died on Thursday in a French military hospital.

Chief of Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO)'s executive committee Mahmoud Abbas, or Abu Mazen, quickly denied he was chosen by the mainstream Fatah movement to be its candidate in the presidential elections due to be held in the Palestinian territories  on Jan. 9.

"I didn't candidate myself until now and it is still premature.The question would be discussed by the Fatah movement's revolutionary council," he told reporters.

He said the Fatah central committee and its revolutionary council "are the only two bodies that decide to choose anyone of the movement to be its candidate in the upcoming elections.Palestinian analysts said that Abbas wants to earn as much support as possible, especially in the Fatah movement and its backbone revolutionary council before he declares officially to run for the presidential elections.

Following the death of Arafat, according to the Palestinian Basic Law, Rawhi Fattouh, the new Speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) was nominated as temporary president until presidential elections are held.

The PLO executive committee, the presidency of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) and Fatah central committee decided on Sunday to hold the presidential elections on Jan. 9, 2005.However, following the declaration of the election date, no one yet has announced officially that he or she is the candidate to run for the presidential elections.

Former minister of interior security, Mohamed Dahlan, who is loyal to Abu Mazen, said that Abu Mazen is to be the movement's candidate in the coming presidential elections.

"It is very important for Abu Mazen to be Fatah candidate in the presidential elections. There is a national consensus on him because he is the man that links the past and the present with the future," Dahlan told reporters.

But according to analysts, another Fatah candidate, Marwan alBarghouti, may be an obstacle for Abu Mazen to win the position of president of the PNA.

Barghouti was arrested by Israel in the West Bank town of Ramallah in April 2002, and was sentenced five times life imprisonment by an Israeli court for being involved in encouraging militants to kill Israelis.

When Arafat was alive, polls showed Barghouti was the second leader after Arafat who earned votes higher than late Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, who was assassinated by Israel in April 2004.

Marwan's wife Fadwa Barghouti said that most probably, Marwan would participate in the presidential election, adding that "he is a Fatah leader, and if Fatah chooses him as a candidate, he would run for elections."

Analysts said if Barghouti runs for elections, he would be a competitor to Abu Mazen inside the Fatah movement, indicating there would be internal conflict in the movement.

Abu Mazen was nominated as Chairman of PLO executive committeeon Thursday after it was officially declared that Arafat died at the Percy Military Hospital outside Paris.

Abu Mazen had temporarily chaired the Fatah movement that used to be headed by Arafat since 1965 until the movement's centralcommittee had chosen Farouk Kadoumi, PLO political bureau chief asthe new chairman of Fatah.

However, opposition movements like Hamas and Islamic Jihad had clearly announced that they won't participate in the presidential elections.

Asked about the general elections due on Jan. 9, Abu Zuhri, a spokesman for Hamas in Gaza, said that Hamas will not participate in the presidential election.

"Hamas would only participate in municipal elections, and concerning the participation in parliamentary elections, a decision would be made only Hamas' political leadership has discussions on the issue.

Khaled Al Batsh, a senior Islamic Jihad leader said that the movement can only participate in presidential and parliamentarianelections "if an independent Palestinian state is established."All these statements of the PNA and Fatah officials as well asthe leaders of opposition powers keep the door opened either for an agreement among all the Palestinians to hold elections, or continue with the former situation, an authority and an opposition.