President Abbas rejects dialogue with Hamas leadership in Syria

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Date: 16 / 06 / 2007 Time: 15:50

Bethlehem – Ma'an –

Ma'an independent news agency has learned on Saturday that the Secretary-General of the Arab League, Amr Moussa, has telephoned Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in order to arrange a meeting between the president and the head of the Hamas politburo, Khaled Mesha'al. President Abbas refused to meet Mesha'al.

Fateh rejected Mesha'al's call for dialogue, aimed at leaving behind the disagreement in the Palestinian arena.

A senior Fateh leader, Ahmad Abd ar Rahman, told Al-Jazeera satellite TV channel "No dialogue is approved with mutineers, masked men and killers, and what happened in [the] Gaza Strip was a rebellion against legitimacy."

Mesha'al last night called for dialogue with Fateh under Arab patronage. In a live TV interview, he said: "President Abbas' decision to dissolve the government will not resolve the problem, nor will it end the dispute."

A Fateh official in the central West Bank town of Ramallah questioned, "How could Mesha'al talk this way whilst Hamas activists were storming the president's home and confiscating his car and other properties? This is rude!"

A PLC member from Fateh, Muhammad Lahham told Ma'an: "It seems like Mesha'al is trying to say: 'Hamas has took control of Gaza Strip completely, so come on Abu Mazin [Mahmoud Abbas], and share the West Bank with us'. This is really what Mesha'al planned. He has undermined both observers and analysts."

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