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| Fatah holds key party congress | |
| (about 6 hours later) | |
| Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah faction has begun a congress - its first in 20 years. | |
| A draft of the movement's new platform proposes to push to the sidelines a call to "armed struggle" against Israel, without dropping it altogether. | A draft of the movement's new platform proposes to push to the sidelines a call to "armed struggle" against Israel, without dropping it altogether. |
| Fatah is widely seen as corrupt and ineffective, the BBC's Middle East correspondent Tim Franks says. | Fatah is widely seen as corrupt and ineffective, the BBC's Middle East correspondent Tim Franks says. |
| He says there will also be close interest in who is elected to the faction's internal positions of power. | He says there will also be close interest in who is elected to the faction's internal positions of power. |
| 'Princes of the Gulf' | 'Princes of the Gulf' |
| Some 2,000 delegates are convening for Fatah's three-day congress in the West Bank town of Bethlehem. | Some 2,000 delegates are convening for Fatah's three-day congress in the West Bank town of Bethlehem. |
| They will be discussing a new platform that seeks to rejuvenate the movement. | They will be discussing a new platform that seeks to rejuvenate the movement. |
| However, the draft document proposes to keep the option of "armed struggle" if peace talks with Israel fail. | However, the draft document proposes to keep the option of "armed struggle" if peace talks with Israel fail. |
| It also says that an Israeli settlement freeze in the West Bank is a precondition for any further talks with Israel. | It also says that an Israeli settlement freeze in the West Bank is a precondition for any further talks with Israel. |
| The congress comes as the US is hoping to broker a new round of peace talks between the Israelis and Palestinians. | The congress comes as the US is hoping to broker a new round of peace talks between the Israelis and Palestinians. |
| Maybe more important is also the issue who the delegates elect to the internal positions of power, our correspondent says. | Maybe more important is also the issue who the delegates elect to the internal positions of power, our correspondent says. |
| He adds that - in the words of one reformer - the current leaders are like princes in the Gulf. | He adds that - in the words of one reformer - the current leaders are like princes in the Gulf. |
| Opinion polls still suggest that Fatah is currently more popular than its main rival - the Islamist Hamas movement which controls the Gaza Strip. | Opinion polls still suggest that Fatah is currently more popular than its main rival - the Islamist Hamas movement which controls the Gaza Strip. |
| But without a strong infusion of freshness, in the long-term Palestinians say that Fatah will only decline, our correspondent says. | But without a strong infusion of freshness, in the long-term Palestinians say that Fatah will only decline, our correspondent says. |