Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement won on Wednesday the students' elections at Hebron University over Islamic Hamas movement that rules the Gaza Strip since June last year.

Izzeldein al-Ja'bari, a Hebron University official said the moderate Fatah movement has won student council elections in a former Hamas stronghold. The university's students' council has been under Hamas grip for 22 years.

"Fatah activists loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas won 21 seats on Wednesday, compared to 20 for a union between Hamas and Islamic Jihad movements," said Jihad al-Qawasmi, spokesman of Fatah students' block.

Students supporting Fatah movement honked car horns and fired guns in the air when the results were announced in the afternoon. Islamists controlled the university's student council since 1986.

University elections are an important gauge of opinion. Since the violent Hamas' takeover of Gaza last year, Fatah has been trying to prevent a repeat in the West Bank, though Hebron is considered a Hamas stronghold.

Fatah movement, which was weakened in the Gaza Strip, following Hamas' takeover, has also won the students' elections at Beir Zeit and Bethlehem universities in the West Bank.

(Xinhua News Agency May 8, 2008)