Abbas fends off Hamas poll challenge

The Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas's ruling Fatah movement has fended off a strong challenge by Hamas in local elections in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

The Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas's ruling Fatah movement has fended off a strong challenge by Hamas in local elections in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

However, Hamas established itself as a major political player, winning contests in the three biggest towns up for grabs: Qalqiliya, Rafah and Beit Lahiya. In 16 communities, neither side won a majority, with independents or small groups getting most votes.

Fatah won 56 per cent of the total vote and the Islamic militant group 33 per cent. The corruption-tainted Fatah had feared it might be defeated in Thursday's elections.

In Qalqiliya, which straddles the frontier with Israel, 4,000 Hamas supporters celebrated in the streets, shooting off fireworks, handing out sweets and waving green Hamas flags. Hamas also staged large victory marches in the town of Rafah and the refugee camp of Bureij in the Gaza Strip.

The local elections were seen as the final test for Mr Abbas before parliamentary elections in July. Mr Abbas has been seeking to persuade Hamas to give up violence and transform itself into a political party, but is also concerned that an increasingly powerful hardline opposition can hinder his peace efforts with Israel.

"The results didn't live up to our expectations," said Kadoura Fares, a Fatah legislator and leader of the movement's younger activists, who have been clamouring for reform.

In Gaza City, the Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar said that "people voted for the Islamic programme, the programme of resistance, of change and reform".