Palestinian radical group Islamic Jihad to boycott 2012 elections

The second largest Palestinian radical group, Islamic Jihad, has announced that it will not take part in parliamentary and presidential elections scheduled for May 2012. “We confirm our position not to participate in the parliamentary and presidential elections, because they will be held based on Oslo agreements with Israel,” Nafez Assam, member of the organization’s Political Bureau, told journalists in Gaza. On Thursday, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas and Khaled Mashaal, chief of the largest Palestinian radical group Hamas, agreed during their meeting in Cairo to hold general elections in the Palestinian territories next May. Islamic Jihad did not participate in the 1996 and 2006 Palestinian legislative elections. The latest vote brought a landslide victory for Hamas. Islamic Jihad, whose members believe that the Arab-Israeli conflict will only be resolved through armed confrontation, has claimed responsibility for dozens of deadly attacks on Israelis. The organization has refused to recognize a peaceful settlement plan stipulated by the 1993 Oslo Accords between the Palestinian Authority and Israel.