JERUSALEM – Hamas finished a strong second – to Yasser Arafat’s more moderate Fatah faction – in the terrorist group’s debut in Palestinian elections, officials said yesterday.
Incomplete returns showed Hamas was garnering about 25 percent of the more than 120,000 votes cast, compared with 65 percent for Fatah.
Hamas, which calls for the destruction of Israel, claimed it won control of at least 17 of the 26 local councils in the West Bank that were at stake.
Other reports indicated Fatah, the umbrella group Arafat founded and headed until his death last month, was winning a majority in 14, compared with nine for Hamas.
The balloting was the first for Palestinian towns since 1976 and is a prelude to the Jan 9. presidential election for Arafat’s successor.
Hamas is boycotting that vote, but this week’s results may send a message to the Fatah candidate, Mahmoud Abbas, who is a heavy favorite to win next month.
Also yesterday, nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu was detained when he tried to enter Bethlehem to celebrate Christmas Eve Mass.
Vanunu converted to Christianity after being convicted of treason for disclosing secrets about Israel’s atomic weapons program.
Under restrictions imposed after his release from an 18-year prison term, Vanunu was banned from traveling to Bethlehem or any other part of the West Bank.
With Post Wire Services