Hamas has said it will boycott a partial re-vote ordered for Wednesday by Palestinian electoral officials in three Gaza Strip municipalities.

Earlier, Hamas called for the postponement of the elections until all arrangements were taken to prevent any kind of fraud.

Hamas made a strong showing in recent municipal elections only to see victories in three Gaza Strip towns quashed by a court after Fatah allegations of fraud.

Hamas said that the movement had won wide support in the three municipalities and blamed the ruling Fatah Party for trying to steal its victories.

Hamas' declaration followed the announcement of the central committee for Palestinian local elections that the partial election would be carried out in Gaza Strip on its set date, on Wednesday.

The committee said it would distribute polling boxes on Tuesday evening in Rafah, al-Buraij and Bait Lahia.

Firas Yaghi, director of the Palestinian municipal elections committee, told Aljazeera the committee had taken all necessary measures to hold the election.

"We have trained more than 422 employees. We have provided polling boxes for more than 65 constituencies," he said.

"We are ready to carry out the elections on Wednesday, according to the decision of the Palestinian courts, issued on 18, 19 May," he added.

Measures taken

"We have carried out intensive arrangements to guarantee that no violations will take place," Yaghi said.

"We have brought employees to Rafah from outside the city. We have also contacted the Palestinian Interior Ministry to learn if the civil record includes names of deceased people, and their names have been marked with stars," he said.

"We have contacted all local and international supervision establishments, asking them to be in direct contact with us and prevent any violation attempt," he added.

Yaghi has also assured that they have contacted all Palestinian factions to guarantee their commitment to avoid electoral advertisements at polling centres.

"In addition, we have placed special operations rooms for employees of the Supreme Committee for Palestinian municipal elections to observe everything taking place at the polling centres, where the repeated elections will be carried out," he added.

When asked about Hamas' decision not to take part in the partial election, Yaghi said: "We respect all national and Islamic Palestinian factions.

"However, we are now talking about the law and the implementation of the Palestinian courts' decisions,'' he said.

"Our mission, at the Supreme Committee for Palestinian municipal elections, is to implement the courts' decisions," he added.

PHOTO CAPTION

Palestinian mourn over the body of Tahseen Kalakh, 24, as an automatic rifle is placed on him in a mosque during his funeral at the Khan Younis refugee camp, southern of Gaza Strip, Monday, May 30, 2005. (AP)