'Respect the election results'
2005-05-06 12:35
Gaza City - A Hamas leader on Friday proclaimed victory for his Islamist fundamentalist group in the main towns where Palestinian municipal polls were held and said the group would respect the election results.
"Hamas taken 34 constituencies, particularly in the denser population zones," Mahmud al-Zahar told a news conference, one day after local elections were held in more than 80 municipalities across the occupied territories.
He named the towns of Rafah and Bureij in the Gaza Strip and Qalqiliya in the West Bank as Hamas wins.
The radical group - whose armed wing has been responsible for most of anti-Israeli attacks during the Palestinian uprising - was "committed to respecting the election results," Zahar added.
The Fatah faction of Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas won 55% of the vote and Hamas 34%, according still partial figures from the local electoral commission.