Palestinian Fatah Movement Elects New Deputy Head

Fatah's central committee on Wednesday evening elected Mahmoud al-Aloul as deputy head of the movement.



"Al-Aloul was elected Fatah deputy leader at Wednesday's central committee meeting," Dalal Salameh, a member of the body, told Anadolu Agency on Thursday.



According to Salameh, the meeting was held at the Palestinian presidential headquarters in Ramallah and chaired by Palestinian President and Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas.



Al-Aloul, 66, hails from the West Bank city of Nablus. He has held several key positions in Fatah previously and is thought to be a close associate of Abbas.



Following the election, Fadwa Barghouthi, wife of jailed Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouthi, slammed the central committee for failing to elect her husband as deputy movement leader.



"The central committee appears to insist on excluding Marwan," Fadwa wrote on Facebook.



She went on to accuse the central committee of "bowing to the threats" of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.



"Marwan has always been here," she asserted, "standing against the Israeli occupation."



At Fatah's seventh party congress last December, Marwan Barghouthi clinched the most votes from central committee members, leading to speculation he would be chosen as the movement's next deputy head.



Some observers believe the committee's failure on Wednesday to elect him to the post stems from a desire on the part of certain Fatah officials to prevent him from eventually succeeding Abbas. -