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Counting under way in Palestinian poll
With counting under way and exit polls in the Palestinian elections indicating Hamas has come a close second to Fatah, the resistance movement is looking at how it could join the government.
Shortly after voting ended on Wednesday, a Fatah official estimated that Fatah had won 46% of the vote, beating an estimated vote of more than 30% for Hamas.
Ismail Haniyah, a senior Hamas leader, said determining the group's future role would now be a priority.
"This issue is of great importance for Hamas and for most of the Palestinian people because the government will supervise the administration of Palestinian political and internal affairs," he said.
Haniyah said the United States had no right to interfere in Palestinian affairs by putting pressure on Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, not to include Hamas in a new cabinet.
"The issue of the government is an internal Palestinian affair and no external party has the right to intervene with it," Haniyah said.
Pressure
Israel and the US have rejected dialogue with Hamas, a group which has carried out nearly 60 bombings since the start of a Palestinian uprising in 2000 against the Israeli occupation. Its charter calls for the destruction of Israel.
More
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/9F526B8A-1D36-46F4-8195-0863DEBCB6DD.htm
Ismail Haniyah, a senior Hamas leader, said determining the group's future role would now be a priority.
"This issue is of great importance for Hamas and for most of the Palestinian people because the government will supervise the administration of Palestinian political and internal affairs," he said.
Haniyah said the United States had no right to interfere in Palestinian affairs by putting pressure on Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, not to include Hamas in a new cabinet.
"The issue of the government is an internal Palestinian affair and no external party has the right to intervene with it," Haniyah said.
Pressure
Israel and the US have rejected dialogue with Hamas, a group which has carried out nearly 60 bombings since the start of a Palestinian uprising in 2000 against the Israeli occupation. Its charter calls for the destruction of Israel.
More
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/9F526B8A-1D36-46F4-8195-0863DEBCB6DD.htm
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The polls indicate that neither party is likely to win a majority in the 132-member parliament, meaning that it is possible Hamas could form the next government. However, senior pollster Khalil Shikaki of the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research said it is unlikely the party would get enough support from smaller parties and independent lists to forge a majority.
"This will give the small groups and the independents a big chance to decide (who forms a government)," Shikaki said. "It's possible that Hamas has a chance to form the next government."
More
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/674336.html
Exit polls suggest militant Islamist group Hamas has seized a sizeable share of the vote, although the ruling Fatah party seems to have kept a narrow lead.
Israel, the US and EU have banned Hamas as a terrorist organisation and have said they do not want to deal with it.
Both Hamas and Fatah have said they are willing to form a governing coalition if there is no clear winner.
Three exit polls put Fatah ahead by a narrow margin, but Hamas has challenged the accuracy of the polls.
Official results are expected to take some time.
Fatah supporters have been celebrating by firing guns into the air in towns in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
More
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4649134.stm