Mesha'al says Hamas ready to turn over presidential security headquarters to Palestinian Authority

Date: 27 / 01 / 2008 Time: 11:38

[Ma'anImages]
Bethlehem – Ma'an –

Hamas is ready to turn over the presidential security headquarters to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, senior Hamas leader Khaled Mesha'al told the -based Al-Sharq Al-Awsat newspaper on Sunday.

Mesha'al, the Damascus-based head of Hamas political bureau, said that a handover of the other security compounds would require further discussion among Palestinian officials before being handed over.

The Hamas leader said that negotiations between Hamas, Egypt, and the Palestinian presidency to reach a resolution to the crisis on the Gaza Strip's borders. He said Hamas wants to lift the Israeli-imposed blockade and shore up security without harming Egyptian interests.

"I have told the chief of the Egyptian intelligence Omar Sulaiman that the angry reaction which resulted in toppling the border walls at the Rafah crossing was never meant to be against Egypt. The toppling of the crossing was a correct step, yet we need to follow up with that because the issue is not about Gaza Strip's residents shopping in Egypt," Mesha'al explained.

Mesha'al did not however give a dates for the beginning of direct consultations over the issue of the crossings; he just stated that a solution will be reached through private meetings sheltered from the media.

With regards to the ongoing Palestinian-Israeli negotiations, Mesha'al called them as pointless, arguing that Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will not give up any of Israel's hard line stances.

Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas are meeting in Jerusalem on Sunday to address the issue of Gaza's border crossings.

Hamas and Palestinian Authority Officials are traveling separately to Egypt, also to discus Gaza's borders.

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