Hamas gives backing to Palestinian elections
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GAZA CITY: The Islamist movement Hamas gave its backing on Sunday for plans to hold elections next year, urging Palestinians to register for the polls which it is expected to contest for the first time.
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The radical Palestinian group Hamas says it will boycott next month&#39;s election for a successor to the late Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat.
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GAZA CITY  - The radical Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades movement, an armed offshoot of the dominant Fatah faction, gave its endorsement to PLO chairman Mahmud Abbas in the contest for Palestinian Authority president.
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The move was an effort to support the emergency government of Mahmoud Abbas after the Muslim militants of Hamas seized control of Gaza 10 days ago.
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Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is expected on Monday to urge Hamas Islamists to agree to early elections, cede control of the Gaza Strip and hold talks with his Fatah faction, a Palestinian official said.
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Islamic resistance group Hamas has scored significant successes in Palestinian municipal elections, initial results have shown. An unofficial tally gave Hamas control of seven councils against 11 for the Fatah
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LEADERSHIP: Hamas and Islamic Jihad said they want nothing to do with the election of a new leader to replace Yasser Arafat. Hamas also vowed to keep up attacks on Israel.
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Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Monday he will push ahead with new elections despite a wave of factional fighting between his Fatah party and the rival Islamic group Hamas.
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Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday said he will support an expected decision by a top PLO decision-making body to call early elections.
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The Palestinian Islamic militant group  Hamas said on Wednesday it would boycott a Jan. 9 presidential  election for a successor to Yasser Arafat.
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RAMALLAH, West Bank  - A top Palestinian body backed President Mahmoud Abbas's motion for early elections in the Palestinian Authority on Thursday despite rival Hamas's rejection of the plan.
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Hamas Islamic militants scored significant successes in Palestinian municipal elections, the first contested by the group sworn to destroying Israel, initial results showed on Friday.
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The radical Islamic Hamas movementdid well in the first round of the Palestinian municipal elections,official results which was announced in Ramallah on Sunday showed.
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HAMAS has won significant victories in local elections in the West Bank, the first to have been contested by the Islamic militant movement that is sworn to see Israelâs destruction.
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RAMALLAH, West Bank  - The militant Islamic group  Hamas made significant inroads against the mainstream Fatah  movement in Palestinian municipal elections held last week in  the West Bank, official results showed Sunday.
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Palestinians voted on Thursday in the  first municipal elections in the Gaza Strip, a test of strength  between new President Mahmoud Abbas and the militant Hamas  group.
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BEIT HANOUN, Gaza Strip  - Palestinians voted on  Thursday in the first municipal elections in the Gaza Strip in  decades, a test of strength between new President Mahmoud Abbas  and the militant Hamas group.