Palestinians go to the polls

2005-05-05 09:17

Bethlehem, West Bank - Palestinians began voting early on Thursday as the polls opened in more than 80 municipalities across the West Bank and Gaza Strip, an AFP correspondent said.

About a dozen people were seen heading to the polls in the southern West Bank town of Bethlehem as the ballot boxes opened shortly after 07:00 across the Palestinian territories.

More than 400 000 people will be entitled to cast their ballots in a vote which was expected to be the final test of the radical Hamas movement's popularity ahead of participation in its first-ever legislative elections in July.

The dominant Fatah faction, which has dominated Palestinian politics for the last five decades, was left reeling in January when Hamas recorded a landslide victory in the first local elections in its Gaza stronghold, just a month after its entry into the democratic process.

Hamas is hoping for similar results on Thursday, especially the southern Gaza town of Rafah and Beit Lahiya in the north of the territory, which have been radicalised by some of the bloodiest violence of the nearly five-year Palestinian uprising.

- AFP