**The Fatah faction of Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas has voted to overhaul its top executives in its first election in two decades, initial results show.**At a congress in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, 15 new officials were voted onto its 18-member central committee.
Among them was Marwan Barghouti, jailed for life in Israel for organising the killing of Israelis, charges he denies.
Election results for Fatah’s other ruling body, the Revolutionary Council, are expected later on Tuesday.
New faces
Less than half of the 10 members of the so-called “old guard”, who were seeking re-election, managed to hold onto their seats on the central committee, Reuters news agency reported.
Correspondents say Fatah is struggling to dispel its image among Palestinians of being corrupt and divided, after a stunning election loss in 2006 to rival faction Hamas.
The congress on Saturday backed Mr Abbas as the party leader, a post which he has held since the death of Fatah’s founder, Yasser Arafat, in 2004.
The 2,000 delegates also backed changes to the party’s charter, but retained the right to “resistance” by “all means”.
A commitment to “two states for two people” was added, specifying that a Palestinian state should be established on the basis of 1967 borders - meaning all of the West Bank and Gaza, delegates said.