Dec 16 (Reuters) - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called for fresh elections on Saturday, a move described by the governing Hamas movement as a coup. Here are some key facts about Hamas and its path to power: CHRONOLOGY 1987 - Hamas established during first Palestinian uprising. 1993 - Hamas rejects interim peace accords between Israel and Yasser Arafat's Palestine Liberation Organisation. Jan 20, 1996 - Arafat elected president. Fatah wins 68 out 88 seats in parliament. Hamas boycotts the vote. Sept. 28, 2000 - Second Intifada, or uprising, starts after the collapse of peace talks. Nov. 11, 2004 - Arafat dies in Paris and is succeeded by Mahmoud Abbas as head of the PLO and Palestinian president. Jan. 25, 2006 - Hamas wins Palestinian parliamentary election, taking 74 seats in 132-member parliament. Abbas's long-dominant Fatah movement wins 45 seats. WHAT IS HAMAS? * Hamas is an acronym for Islamic Resistance Movement and also means "zeal" in Arabic. * It is formally committed to destroying Israel and putting an Islamic state in its place. * Hamas spearheaded a suicide bombing campaign against Israel, carrying out nearly 60 such attacks from 2000. But the group has gone further than other Palestinian militant factions in respecting last year's truce. * Hamas was helped in the January parliamentary elections by its pledges to eradicate corruption in the Palestinian Authority and its fight against Israel. It is also popular because of a network of charities it runs. * It has rebuffed demands from Israel, the United States and other nations to recognise the Jewish state and disarm. Israel and the United States have sought to isolate Hamas.
