The radical Islamic Hamas movement did well in the first round of the Palestinian municipal elections, official results which was announced in Ramallah on Sunday showed.

The elections were held in 26 centers in the West Bank on Thursday.

Palestinian statistics centers revealed that Fatah got 44.4 percent of the votes, Hamas won 35.6 percent, the independents 13.07 percent and the rest got 6.86 percent.

Palestinian observers believe that the results sent a message to the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) and Mahmoud Abbas, the Fatah candidate for the presidential elections who is expected to win the elections, that Hamas is powerful in the territories.

The PNA said the elections were "free and fair", with a higher voter turnout than expected.

Announcing the final official results of the West Bank local elections held last Thursday, Minister for Local Government Jamal Shoubaki said in Ramallah that more than 81 percent of the 144,000eligible voters had voted.

"This first phase witnessed a high percentage of voting participation despite the Israeli occupation army activities of hindering the accessibility to voting centers," said Shoubaki, who is also the chairman of the Higher Committee for Local Elections.

"While I can honestly say that Israel kept its forces out of the towns as it promised, the number of checkpoints around these areas has increased, obstructing as a result the entry of people who wanted to come to their town and vote," he said.

A total of 887 candidates competed for 306 seats in the 26 West Bank towns and villages.

Shoubaki refused to announce which political parties won,leading to speculation that the PNA's ruling Fatah party may have lost to the Islamic fundamentalist Hamas group.

It was the first time that Hamas participated in local elections.

The PNA official, however, stressed that individuals registered as candidates and not political groups and therefore he could only provide names of the individual winners and not their political affiliation.

Earlier reports said Fatah won almost two thirds of the 306seats and that Hamas, secular political parties and independents won the rest.

Hamas, however, claimed it came out a winner in 13 of the 26councils even though this figure was not proven correct. Shoubaki said women candidates, who made up only 16 percent of the candidates, won 17 percent of the votes.

Phase two of the first round of elections will be held on Jan.27 in 10 Gaza towns, said Shoubaki, stressing that these elections were delayed because of the Israeli military incursions intonorthern Gaza.

The second round, however, will be held in April in about 50percent of the remaining councils, said Shoubaki.

"Regardless of digits and initial results, what happened in theWest Bank is considered a notable retreat in the support for Fatahmovement in places where thought to be guaranteed," said Bassem AbuSomaya, a Palestinian media observer.
He said the reason behind that "is because Fatah memberscompeted themselves in some areas, and in other areas they went incoalition either with Hamas movement or with other left-wingparties."

Many Palestinians look at the municipal elections as a scale or a measurement for the powers of both Hamas and Fatah. It could be also a measurement for the coming presidential election on Jan. 9to choose later leader Yasser Arafat's successor.

Hassan Yousef, a senior Hamas leader in the West Bank said thatthe municipal elections results "indicates that Hamas representsvery well the Palestinian people and that the people are eager forholding reforms and ending an area of corruption." He announced that Hamas movement won in 13 election councils outof 26 ones on Thursday.

However, national security advisor Brig. Jibril Rajoub, also aprominent Fatah leader, said that the results showed that Fatahmovement is still holding control, adding "the elections wentthrough a democratic atmosphere."

But Fatah movement's supporters and loyalists expressed concernsfor the results of the first stage in the municipal elections inthe West Bank.

"The results are worrying especially in the second stage, which would be held in 10 councils in the Gaza Strip on Jan. 27," said one of Fatah movement's supporters in the West Bank.