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.

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