 Gaza, 28 Dec. (AKI) - A commando of Palestinian militants has stormed an electoral office in Khan Younis, in the Gaza Strip, in a bid to stop the Fatah movement from registering a new list of candidates. A similar assault by gunmen is reported in Rafah, where armed men are said to have surrounded the electoral office. The gunmen are loyal to imprisoned uprising leader Marwan Barghouti and oppose the inclusion of Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia and Cabinet minister Nabil Shaath on the candidatesâ list for the 25 January elections.
Meanwhile the Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas met millitant leaders on Wednesday morning in Gaza and appealed to them to halt rocket attacks on Israel and respect a general truce ahead of the PA elelctions, scheduled for 25 January. After meeting Abbas, a leader of Islamic Jihad, which has carried out suicide bombings despite the truce, said he did not believe there would be an extension to the "period of calm" militants agreed to follow at a Cairo summit. 
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