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GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Gaza strongman Mohammed Dahlan, once seen as a possible successor to Yasser Arafat, said Tuesday he will not run in the Jan. 9 elections and endorsed the interim Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas.
Dahlan, former chief of a powerful security service, still commands a strong following in the combustible Gaza Strip. His support could boost Abbas' chances of maintaining order in what might be a turbulent transition period.
Arafat's death last week opened the door to real competition for the position of Palestinian leader for the first time in decades. Abbas is expected to receive the nomination from the ruling Fatah movement, but the low-key Abbas, a former prime minister, does not have a wide following.
Dahlan said he doubted that the United States would be an effective broker.
"We have a very bad experience ... with this American administration," he said, adding that Israel "attacked us and killed us, with American protection."
France won't make Arafat medical records publicPARIS - France has no intention of making Yasser Arafat's medical records public and will leave the decision about what to do with them to his family, the foreign minister said Tuesday.
Michel Barnier's comment came shortly after Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia said that he had formally requested that France publish the medical records.
The cause of Arafat's death has not been announced.
"The medical file of Yasser Arafat will be transmitted, conforming to the law and to rules, to members of the immediate family who ask for it - and I mean family," Barnier told Europe-1 radio.
Barnier cited France's strict privacy laws.
The intense secrecy surrounding Arafat's final days has aroused frustration and rumors in the Arab world. Arafat's Jordanian physician, Dr. Ashraf al-Kurdi, has called for an autopsy, citing poisoning as a possible cause of death.