RAMALLAH, May 14 (Xinhua) -- The Palestinian National Liberation Movement (Fatah) 's eighth general conference opened on Thursday in the West Bank city of Ramallah, with sessions held simultaneously in the Gaza Strip, Cairo and Beirut.
The three-day conference is expected to elect the movement's two highest leadership bodies, the Central Committee and the Revolutionary Council. According to organizers, 18 members will be elected to the Central Committee and 80 others to the Revolutionary Council.
Sabri Saidam, head of the conference's media committee, told Xinhua that the conference is being held "at one of the most difficult and complex historical stages."
The conference is being held simultaneously in four halls to reflect "the unity of the movement and its national presence in the homeland and the diaspora," said Saidam, adding that around 2,500 members are participating.
Fatah was founded under the leadership of the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in 1959. The movement is the largest faction within the Palestine Liberation Organization and has been the dominant force in the Palestinian Authority.
The seventh general conference of Fatah was held in Ramallah in 2016, during which Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was re-elected as the movement's leader. ■
