RAMALLAH, Jan. 13 (Xinhuanet) -- A U.S. envoy said on Friday that Washington opposes the participation of militant groups in the Jan. 25 Palestinian legislative elections.

    However, visiting U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs David Welch also expressed the U.S. support to Palestinians' right to vote in East Jerusalem.

    "Groups and individuals who refuse to renounce terror and violence, who refuse to recognize Israel's right to exist and who refuse to disarm, have no place in the political process," Welch told reporters following a one-and-a-half-hour meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

    "We welcome statements by President Abbas that the elections will proceed on time," he said, adding, "the U.S. strongly supports President Abbas in this decision."

    Meanwhile, Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat said that Welch and his companion Director of the National Security Council Elliott Abrams promised that they would exert every possible effort to ensure safe and free elections.

    The U.S. envoys have been engaged in stepped up efforts to persuade Israel to allow Arab residents in East Jerusalem to vote in the coming Palestinian legislative elections.

    The Israeli government is expected to decide on whether to allow the polls in East Jerusalem on Sunday.

    On Monday, Abbas announced that the elections would proceed on time since he had received U.S. assurances that Israel would give a green light to voting in East Jerusalem.

    Israel had previously threatened to totally ban voting in East Jerusalem due to the participation of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) in the ballot.

    Hamas, sworn to Israel's destruction, is widely expected to do well in the upcoming elections, rousing grave concerns of Israel and the United States. Enditem