Abbas re-elected as Fatah leader

BETHLEHEM, West Bank, Aug. 8 (UPI) -- Fatah delegates unanimously re-elected Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas their leader Saturday.

Abbas was the only candidate for Fatah leadership at the party conference in Bethlehem, Ynetnews.com reported. He addressed the 2,000 delegates, saying Fatah has survived "all attempts to crush it."

"Time and time again, we have recovered from failures and squabbles, and this congress symbolizes the great energy that this movement, which fired the first shot in the Palestinian struggle, has," he said.

Abbas said Fatah is pursuing peace but has not given up the right to armed struggle, if necessary. He told the delegates he is optimistic that Palestinians, with support from the United States, can negotiate with Israel to win an independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital.

Sami Abu Zuhri, a spokesman for Hamas, which controls Gaza, said the vote is "a continuation of the state of political and organizational collapse Fatah is in and a continuation of the policy of dependence on foreign and external sources that Fatah suffers from."