Bethlehem, West Bank, August 12, SPA -- Organizers announced the final results of internal elections in Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party Wednesday evening, which saw a key aide of the Palestinian presidentunexpectedly enter the movement's top decision-making body, according to dpa. Presidential Secretary Tayeb Abdul Rahim, a long-time Abbassupporter and a member of the outgoing Fatah Central Committee, wasinitially believed not to have made it into the newly elected CentralCommittee. But Ahmed Sayyad, chairman of the election committee for theparty's convention, said some of the ballot boxes had been recountedafter submission of protests. Speaking at the conference hall in the West Bank city ofBethlehem's Terra Sancta school, he announced the final CentralCommittee list, which now includes six members of the outgoingcommittee. Eighteen seats were up for grabs in the 23-member body. Nabil Sha'ath and Muhammad Shtayya tied, receiving an equal amountof votes and both coming in as number 18. With Abbas, that means that20 of the 23 seats are now filled. The remainder is to be appointedby the newly elected committee.--SPA www.spa.gov.sa/692195