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Palestinian Fatah Party Factions Join Forces Ahead of January Polls
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=1059A3A:3919ACA List, headed by
jailed intifada leader Marwan Barghouti, marks Fatah's bid to heal
deep party divisions that threatened to divide voters Rival wings of
the ruling Palestinian Fatah party have presented a joint list of
candidates for next month's parliamentary elections.

The list, headed by jailed intifada leader Marwan Barghouti, marks
Fatah's bid to heal deep party divisions that threatened to divide
voters and catapult the militant Islamist Hamas party into prominence.
The United States considers Hamas a terrorist organization.

Most candidates on the new list appear to be young generation Fatah
hopefuls, who are seeking to wrest power from old guard party members
blamed by critics for years of official corruption.

Earlier this month, the rival factions submitted two candidate lists,
before deciding on the need to merge to counter the growing popularity
of Hamas.

In recent days, members of the breakaway faction briefly seized
several election offices in the Gaza Strip and West Bank, to demand
more representation.

Some information for this report provided by Reuters and AP.


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