Jerusalem ? Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian leader campaigning to succeed Yasser Arafat in elections next month, said in an interview published Tuesday that the 4-year-old armed uprising against Israel was a mistake and must end.

His strong statement, which could cost him some electoral support, sent a challenge to militants who have been waging war with suicide attacks and ambushes; it also set the stage for a resumption of peace efforts.

In an interview with the London-based Arabic newspaper Asharq al-Awsat, Abbas said Palestinians should resist Israeli occupation, but only through nonviolent means.

“The uprising is a legitimate right of the people to express their rejection of the occupation by popular and social means,” Abbas said. “Using the weapons was harmful and has got to stop.”

At a news conference in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, Abbas said armed attacks could damage peace moves.

“We, at this stage, are against the militarization of the intefadeh (uprising) because we want to negotiate. And because we want to negotiate, the atmosphere should be calm in preparation for political action,” Abbas said. “That’s why we have frankly called for … an end to the militarization of the intefadeh.”

While Arafat was alive, Abbas mainly saved his criticism of the armed uprising for private conversations. When he publicly expressed his belief during the launch of the U.S.-backed “road map” peace plan in 2003, he drew sharp condemnation at home.

Uprising leader Marwan Barghouti’s withdrawal from the Jan. 9 presidential elections has left Abbas the clear front-runner, giving him more leeway to risk alienating some potential voters in exchange for laying the groundwork for rapid post-election peace moves.

And many Palestinians — while supporting militant attacks that have killed more than 1,000 Israelis, many of them civilians — have tired of a conflict that has crushed their economy and killed more than 3,000 of their people.