Israeli police released a Palestinian candidate in the campaign to elect a successor to Yasser Arafat after detaining him for involvement in a scuffle at a West Bank checkpoint on Friday. Witnesses said Israeli border police earlier stopped Bassam al-Salhi, handcuffed him and took him away as he tried to cross A-Ram checkpoint into East Jerusalem. Police scuffled with Salhi's aides when they tried to pull him free. A police statement said Salhi, a member of the communist People's Party faction inside the PLO, had attacked a border policeman when he was denied entry into Jerusalem for not having a permit. Salhi denied assaulting the policeman. "They were arresting me and I only tried to resist being arrested," he said. Police released him on bail hours later but planned to charge him with assault and illegal entry, the police statement said.Salhi said he had hoped police would ignore his lack of a permit in a goodwill gesture to allow greater freedom of movement for presidential candidates to promote their campaign.Palestinians want Israel to ease its clampdown in the West Bank and Gaza Strip so candidates can move freely ahead of January 9 presidential elections. Israel said it would try to cooperate, though it remains wary of Palestinian militants waging a four-year-old revolt.