Fatah members were preparing yesterday to elect a new leadership for the first time in 20 years, hoping to breathe new life into the secular Palestinian party weakened by infighting, mismanagement and its trouncing by the Islamist Hamas movement.

Delegates to the party's congress in the West Bank city of Bethlehem were due to renew the 21-strong Central

Committee and the 120-member Revolutionary Council, Fatah's governing bodies.

Voting was initially scheduled for Friday but was likely to be postponed by a day because of the large number of party members registering as candidates.

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas was certain to retain his position as party chief, with Fatah officials describing him as "the consensus candidate. ”