The jailed Palestinian leader, Marwan Barghouti, is to run in the Palestinian presidential election, reversing his earlier decision to stay out of the race.
Mr Barghouti’s wife said she was registering him to run in the elections before the midnight deadline
The Palestinian militant group, Hamas, urged its supporters to boycott the election which will be held next month to find a successor to Yasser Arafat.
In a statement, Hamas said the Islamic group would not field a candidate in the vote on 9 January.
The statement added that the boycott was not a call for ordinary Palestinians to abstain from voting.
Hamas has rejected the elections because of its opposition to the establishment of the Palestinian Authority in the Oslo peace accords.
