Leader of Palestinian uprising scheduled to go on trial today

JERUSALEM -- Marwan Barghouti, one of the most visible leaders of the Palestinian uprising, will go on trial today, facing charges of orchestrating attacks that killed or wounded scores of Israelis.

Barghouti, the 43-year-old the West Bank chief of Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, delivered fiery speeches during street protests in the early days of the uprising that began in September 2000.

He maintains he is only a politician, but Israel says he was the central player in organizing attacks by members of a Fatah-affiliated militia.

By placing Barghouti on trial in the Tel Aviv District Court, Israel will be looking to show that the senior levels of the Palestinian leadership were behind shootings and bombings. But the tactic could backfire, further burnishing Barghouti's image as a resistance figure and increasing his already strong popularity among Palestinians.

Barghouti, arrested April 15 during an Israeli military sweep through the West Bank, is the second most popular Palestinian leader, trailing only Arafat, according to recent polls.

"He describes his role as that of a political leader, and leader of the uprising, but he does not consider himself responsible for the killings of Israelis," Khader Shkirat, one of his lawyers, told The Associated Press.

Shkirat said the case was about much more than just Barghouti.

"This is a golden opportunity to try the Israeli occupation for all the crimes committed against the Palestinian people, and to present the resistance movement as a just movement before the Israeli public and the international community," Shkirat said.