Palestinian leader calls for shakeup

Barghouti: Old leaders should step aside

A Palestinian girl holds a poster of Marwan Barghouti during a demonstration in Ramallah demanding his release.

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JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Influential Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti, now sitting in an Israeli jail, said Tuesday that he believes the Palestinian national movement needs newer, younger leadership.

According to one of Barghouti's lawyers, Barghouti told the Palestinian Legislative Council: "It is the time for many of the Palestinian leaders and officials to leave their positions after failing in their roles and responsibilities in this decisive battle," referring to the two-year-old Palestinian uprising.

According to the source, he said Palestinian Authority officials should make way for younger leadership, but did not mention Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat by name. Arafat is 73. Barghouti is 43.

"This should be done in a democratic and legal way as soon as possible," he said. The Palestinian Authority is scheduled to hold presidential and legislative elections in January as part of a plan to revamp its government.

However, Palestinian officials have been saying it is unlikely that elections will be held as planned because Israeli troops encircling most of their cities have made it impossible for them to prepare.

One of Barghouti's attorneys told CNN about the remarks.

Recently, top Palestinian officials have said the armed uprising was a mistake and should stop.

"Resistance is a holy right for the Palestinian people to face the Israeli occupation," Barghouti said. "Nobody should forget that the Palestinian people negotiated for 10 years and accepted difficult and humiliating agreements, and in the end didn't get anything except authority over the people, and no authority over land, or sovereignty."

Barghouti, the West Bank chief of Arafat's Fatah movement, is accused of playing a central part in ordering deadly attacks against Israelis during the past two years.

He faces 37 charges, including murder, attempted murder and involvement in a terrorist organization.

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