Fatah to hold party congress by year end

Arab states urge return of Abbas rival from exile

RAMALLAH // Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah party aims to hold its first congress since 2009 by the end of the year, an official said.

Arab states have reportedly been pressuring Mr Abbas to bring back rival Mohammed Dahlan, a UAE- based former security chief.

Although Mr Abbas’s advisers insisted the congress was being organised simply because it was overdue, some analysts saw it as an opportunity for him to reshuffle key positions and sideline Mr Dahlan’s allies. A Fatah central committee membersaid the congress may take place next month.

It will be Fatah’s seventh since its formation.

The congress will include elections for Fatah’s 23- member central committee, in which Mr Abbas serves as president, and its 132-member revolutionary council.

The so-called Arab Quartet – the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan – has been pushing for Mr Abbas to resolve issues with rivals in Fatah with a view towards a wider reconciliation between Palestinian factions.

Besides splits within the party, Mr Abbas’s secular Fatah and the hardline Hamas movement have been at odds since the latter seized Gaza in 2007.

In a recent poll, 65 per cent of Palestinians were pessimistic about the potential for reconciliation, with 31 per cent optimistic.