A storm of differences that hit Palestinian Fatah movement's general conference Wednesday has calmed on Thursday, a spokesman of the movement said.

"The differences that appeared yesterday (Wednesday) have started to clear up," said the spokesman Nabil Amr following the end of the morning session of the conference, which opened Tuesday and had been scheduled to conclude on Thursday.

The controversy focused on the performance of Fatah's bodies during the past two decades and tension became high when the delegates found out that the central committee of Fatah has had no report to present to the conference.

Earlier, a Fatah official said that the conference would extend for at least one day. Amr said that a two-day extension was also possible.

He added that elections for the central committee and the revolutionary council of Fatah will start Friday afternoon without candidates from the Gaza Strip.

The Islamic Hamas movement, Fatah's bitter rival which controls Gaza, prevented 400 Fatah members in Gaza from traveling to the West Bank to attend the conference.

The delegates at the conference have rejected a request to give a vacant quota for Gaza and to fill it later when the situation permits.

"We are working to resolve the issue of Fatah members in Gaza and we are just putting the final touches on it," Amr said, refusing to elaborate.

He renewed Fatah's commitment to adopt peace negotiations with Israel to reach the establishment of a Palestinian statehood "with keeping the choice of firmness and resistance as long as the (Jewish) settlement and occupation last."

Concerning the death of Fatah founder Yasser Arafat, Amr said investigations into his death will continue "and that file can never be folded."

Arafat died in 2004 at a French hospital with doubts that Israel has poisoned him with the help of his aides.

Source: Xinhua