RAMALLAH, Jan. 26 (Xinhuanet) -- Fatah officials said on Thursday that the ruling Palestinian group has been defeated by the Islamic Hamas movement in Wednesday's parliamentary elections.

   The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Hamas has won more seats than Fatah.

   The remarks corroborated with comments by a senior Hamas leader who said his group has won a majority of the 132 parliament seats up for grabs on the Jan. 25 legislative elections.

   Some 1.4 million eligible Palestinian voters, across the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem, participated in the elections to choose from 11 party lists and over 400 candidates.

   This is the first time Hamas, a radical militant group committed to Israel's destruction, fielded candidates for the parliamentary elections.

   Hamas boycotted the first Palestinian legislative elections in 1996 citing opposition to the Oslo Accords, an interim deal between the Palestinians and Israel. Enditem