Fatah, the leading faction of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, has begun a hunt for millions of dollars in assets hidden by Yassir Arafat, its late leader.

The search, aimed at giving Fatah the financial muscle to mount campaigns against the radical Islamist group Hamas in this year's elections, is part of a broader pursuit by Palestinian organisations of the suspected fortune Arafat stashed away. Fatah meanwhile on Sunday re-issued a call for a mutual ceasefire with Israel in a bid to bolster the position of Mahmoud Abbas, the newly elected Palestinian Authority president, at peace talks due in Egypt on Tuesday.