West Bank municipal election tests strength of Islamic party
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Thousands of voters overwhelmed polling stations in scattered West Bank towns and villages on Thursday as Palestinians enthusiastically voted in their first local elections in nearly three decades.
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DAHARIYA, West Bank -- Thousands of Palestinians voted yesterday in the first municipal elections in the West Bank in 28 years, with the Islamic group Hamas vying for political power for the first time against Fatah, the main faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization.
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Palestinians cast their votes yesterday for local councils in 26 towns and villages of the West Bank, opening an election season that officials say will underline the Palestinian Authority&#39;s commitment to democracy.
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Thousands of Palestinians crammed polling stations in West Bank towns to vote in municipal elections, the first in nearly 30 years and the first time the ruling Fatah movement and the Islamic militant group Hamas competed for voter support.
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Reports from the West Bank say the mainstream Fatah faction is on course to win municipal elections there despite a good showing by the militant Islamic group Hamas.
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Fatah, the dominant Palestinian political faction, approved the former prime minister Thursday as its candidate to succeed Yasser Arafat in a presidential election set for Jan. 9.
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Hamas swept seven out of 10 councils in first-ever Gaza Strip local elections seen as a test of strength between the Islamic militant group and new President Mahmoud Abbas, final results showed on Friday.
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Hamas swept seven out of 10 councils in  the Gaza Strip's first local elections, seen as a test of  strength between the Islamic militant group and new President  Mahmoud Abbas, final results showed on Friday.
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JERUSALEM -- Mahmoud Abbas, the leading candidate for the presidency of the Palestinian Authority in next Sunday's elections, appears to be winning support of a key constituency: Palestinian militants and their supporters.
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RAMALLAH, West Bank -- As the young editor of Hamas's weekly newspaper, Sari Orabi is a careful monitor of what he describes as the "surprisingly frank" debate underway within the party that took control of the Palestinian Authority just over five months ago.
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Israel's Labour Party is voting to elect a new leader, with the outcome likely to alter national politics.
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More than 140 thousand Palestinians in the West Bank and east Jerusalem are voting Thursday to elect mayors and municipal councils for 26 towns and villages.
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Palestinians in the Gaza Strip voted in their first municipal elections under Israeli occupation on Thursday in a test of grassroots support for President Mahmoud Abbas and rival Islamist groups.
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Israeli soldiers patrol as Palestinian presidential candidate Bassam Salhi, center, from the People&#39;s Party tours the center of the West Bank city of Hebron, Sunday, Dec. 26, 2004.
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In a town southeast of Jerusalem, a slate of candidates called the Reform Bloc campaigned hard in last month's municipal elections. The Reform Bloc ultimately swept seven of the town council's 11 seats, including that of the mayor.
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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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RAMALLAH, West Bank  - Palestinians voted on  Thursday in the first municipal elections in the West Bank in  nearly three decades, a dress rehearsal for a presidential  ballot next month to choose Yasser Arafat's successor.