RAMALLAH, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- A Fatah official on Sunday said his movement doesn't plan to push for the reshuffle of the Palestinian government in the West Bank, led by western-backed Prime Minister Salam Fayyad.

    The members of the new Fatah central committee, the leading body of the party, "haven't asked President Mahmoud Abbas to reshuffle the government and appoint a central committee member as a new prime minister," the official, who asked to remain unidentified, told Xinhua.

    Abbas has appointed Fayyad, a non-Fatah economist, to head the government since 2007 after the Islamic Hamas movement routed pro-Abbas forces and seized control of Gaza Strip.

    However, the official said Fatah members "demand an active role in leading the government" which Fayyad has mostly chosen from independents and supporters of his small parliamentary bloc, known as the Third Road.

    In April, Abbas reshuffled Fayyad's government and kept the U.S.-educated prime minister in his position. At the time, Fatah lawmakers opposed Abbas' move to task Fayyad to reshuffle the government.

    Islamic Hamas movement, Fatah's bitter rival, also rejects Fayyad's government and deems it illegal. Hamas says it has the right to lead a unity government in both Gaza and the West Bank since it won the parliamentary elections in 2006.

    Abbas fired a Hamas-led unity government following Gaza inter-factional fighting in June 2007.     

Special Report: Palestine-Israel Conflicts