Fatah Activists Sting Abbas, Leave Party

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http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=1409171

Young Fatah Activists Break From Party to Form Own Faction, a Blow for Palestinian Leader Abbas

By MOHAMMED DARAGHMEH Associated Press Writer
The Associated Press

RAMALLAH, West Bank Dec 15, 2005 — Young activists in the ruling Fatah Party have broken off to form their own faction, dealing a bitter blow to Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas ahead of January parliamentary elections and possibly boosting the electoral prospects of Hamas militants.

Fatah officials were negotiating feverishly with the new faction's leader, jailed uprising leader Marwan Barghouti, and his associates Thursday in an effort to keep them in the party.

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But Barghouti supporters said he was determined to contest the Jan. 25 vote on a separate slate after Abbas stacked the top of the Fatah list with corruption-tainted old-timers, largely disregarding the results of recent primaries that young activists won.

"It's too late," said Kadoura Fares, a leader of the young activists. "We approved primary elections to choose our candidates, but the president did not abide by that. They went with the old system of masters and slaves, and now we are more determined to go ahead with our list."
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