Jericho, West Bank, Dec 23, SPA -- Palestinians voted in municipalelections Thursday, a warm-up for next month's presidentialballot and the first time the ruling Fatah movement and theHamas group are competing for voter support. Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia, who cast hisballot in the suburb of Abu Dis, praised the vote in 26 West Bank municipalities as "the first step toward the establishment of the Palestinians state." Next year, voting will likely take place in an additional600 towns and villages, with a total of 1.2 million voters. In the West Bank town of Jericho, long lines formed atpolling stations. Some 150,000 Palestinians were eligible to vote inThursday's local elections. Some 800 candidates are vyingfor 306 municipal council positions. In some municipalities, two of 15 council seats were reserved for women. Meanwhile, Palestinian Cabinet minister Saeb Erekat met Wednesday with Israeli officials to discuss arrangements for the presidential election. Israel has said it would withdrawtroops from Palestinian cities a day before the vote, for72 hours.--SPA1314 Local Time 1014 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/227047