Fatah old guard decimated
BETHLEHEM, West Bank. August 12. KAZINFORM. Fatah appeared to have strengthened President Mahmoud Abbas and reclaimed legitimacy with voters on Tuesday by unseating much of the "old guard" of the late Yasser Arafat; Kazinform refers to Arab News.
Abbas telephoned Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah on Tuesday. They discussed relations between the Kingdom and Palestine and the latest developments in the region, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
Abbas, 74, gambled by calling the first congress of his fractious movement in 20 years, and won when its 2,300 delegates voted in a younger executive that will rejuvenate Fatah and consolidate his position as leader.
Among the older figures who dominated Fatah in decades of exile before the Oslo interim peace deal of 1993 was Ahmed Qorie. Early results indicated Qorie had failed to keep his seat.
Palestinian Authority Secretary-General Tayeb Abdelrahim was also among those voted out.
Marwan Barghouti, a popular leader who is serving five life sentences in Israel, was among those elected. Former Palestinian internal security chief Jibril Rajoub, 56, was also elected along with Fatah's former strongman in Gaza, Mohammed Dahlan.
Hamas urged Fatah's newly elected leadership to avoid "the mistakes" of their predecessors and take steps toward restoring national unity; Kazinform refers to Arab News. See www.arabnews.com for full version.