Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will serve as chairman as the Fatah political party for the next five years, the Fatah general assembly determined Tuesday. The vote on the party's chairmanship was held as part of Fatah's seventh general assembly, held in Ramallah. Thousands of Fatah delegates are attending the three-day gathering. They are scheduled to vote on the new makeup of Fatah's Executive Committee as well as other main bodies. "Members of Fatah, fighters and revolutionaries, we are gathered here to write a new chapter in our movement's history," Abbas, 81, said before the vote on his chairmanship. "We meet here with all those who fought for the occupied homeland, and all those still fighting the occupation, who sparked the stone intifada. Palestine is greater than everything and your presence here demonstrates your desire to follow Fatah and its political plan."
