Mahmoud Abbas has always been known as a bureaucrat with little support on the street. That may now be changing. Crowds gave Abbas, the mainstream Fatah candidate to replace the late Yasser Arafat, a warm welcome as he launched his campaign in a soccer stadium in Jericho today.

Abbas said he would continue to implement Arafat's policies but favored peaceful negotiations rather than terrorist activities in order to obtain his objectives. He also stressed the importance of Palestinian unity.

'We are all children of this nation. We must say no to Palestinian fighting and no to internal conflict,' Abbas said at the rally to a prolonged ovation.

Abbas also emphasized that he strongly supported the 'right of return' for Palestinians as set forth in U.N. resolutions. The co-called 'right of return' would allow Palestinians to return to Israel and could therefore could allow Palestinians to overwhelm the Jewish majority within the Jewish state. As a result, the Israelis have said it is a deal breaker in all previous negotiations with the Palestinians.

The vocal crowds are a good sign for Abbas and add to his claims of legitimacy in the upcoming election which he is favored to win.

Meanwhile, safeguards were put into place by the Palestinian Authority to make sure the election is run fairly. Those who vote will be stamped with in indelible ink so they cannot vote again while ballot boxes would be sealed and marked.