FATAH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS BEGIN IN GAZA

Gaza City, 19 Shafar 1434 H/01 January 2013 (Ma’an/MINA) – Marches announcing the beginning of Fatah’s 48th anniversary celebrations began in Gaza on Monday.

Cars and motorbikes were seen carrying Palestinian and Fatah flags in the Gaza Strip, with PA official Ahmad Olwan saying celebratory events will start Monday evening.

Fatah will hold its 48th anniversary celebrations in al-Saraya square, Gaza City on January 4.Nabil Shaath told Ma’an that celebrations will take place in al-Saraya square in Gaza City after Friday prayers. Preparations are in full swing, with bulldozers leveling the ground and technical teams setting up a large stage, Shaath said.

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Fatah will take full responsibility for the event, including security arrangements, he added.Hamas officials will deliver a speech at the festival and representatives from all Palestinian factions will attend.

It will be the first time that Hamas has allowed Fatah to hold such events since seizing the coastal enclave from the secular faction in 2007. Fatah also permitted a Hamas anniversary rally in the West Bank earlier this month for the first time in six years.

Around 5,000 Fatah members in Gaza will participate in the celebrations, a senior Fatah official in Gaza said on Friday, and security at the events will be tightened to ensure celebrations go to plan.

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Fatah was founded in 1965 by late President Yasser Arafat and has long been the dominant force in Palestinian politics and a cornerstone in the nationalist struggle.

(T/R-015/R-009/R-006).

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)