Hamas will not work with Abbas as PA president after the end of his current term, on January 9, 2009, says Sa'id Siyam

Siyam: Abbas rejects dialog, we will stop dealing with him on 9/1/2009

[ 22/07/2008 - 10:04 AM ]

GAZA, (PIC)--

Sa'eed Siyam, the interior ministry in the PA caretaker government and the senior Hamas official, said that his government and his Movement would not be dealing with PA chief Mahmoud Abbas after 9/1/2009 when his tenure in office expires.

In an interview with a number of journalists including the PIC reporter to be published on Tuesday, Siyam asked Abbas to restore Palestinian cohesion before end of his term in office. He explained that the internal rift happened in his term and he should rectify it before he leaves office.

He said that Hamas was ready for national dialog but Abbas was rejecting it, describing his (Abbas) call for dialog as "not serious".

Indicators point that there is no inter-Palestinian dialog soon, noting that many parties proposed that Qatar would host such a dialog in cooperation with the Arab League, the minister said, noting that the Arab parties, however, realize that the problem was with Abbas.

Shifting to the issue of calm with the Israeli occupation forces, he said that it was reached with unanimity of all factions and would be only scrapped with the agreement of all factions.

He charged that the IOF did not abide by conditions of the calm so far concerning the quality and quantity of goods allowed through the crossings. He also regretted that the Rafah border terminal remained closed despite the Egyptian promises to the contrary.

Siyam hoped that it would be opened even if for sick people, students and those in need as a preliminary stage.

He refused to indulge into details of the mediation on captured soldier Gilad Shalit's swap deal, saying that the entire issue was in the hands of Egypt.

The minister said that his ministry managed to uncover a lot of agents working for the Israeli occupation, and relayed the story of an agent and his son who were planning to rent a house near to the house of Raed Al-Attar's sister in Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip, in a bid to kidnap him. Attar is one of the commanders of the Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas.

He warned that the policy of cutting salaries of civil servants on the part of the illegitimate government in Ramallah led by Salam Fayyad was exploited by the Israeli occupation to recruit those in need. He demanded the trial of Fayyad for committing such a crime and for pushing Palestinians into that "serious swamp".

Siyam wondered how could the Europeans witness such an oppressive siege and severance of salaries without moving to amend it, especially when they are financing a big chunk of the PA budget.

He asserted in conclusion that all constitutional experts worldwide had affirmed that the caretaker government of Ismail Haniya was a constitutional government working according to the law while Fayyad's government was unconstitutional since it did not win the PLC's endorsement and was not tabled with the PLC (to win confidence) in the first place.

Hamas will not work with Abbas as PA president after January 2009

Date: 22 / 07 / 2008 Time: 11:12

Gaza – Ma'an –

The Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, and the de facto government in Gaza will not deal with president Abbas as president of the Palestinian authority after the end his current term, Sa'id Siyam, interior minister in the de facto government, announced on Tuesday.

In a meeting with journalist released for publication on Tuesday, Siyam said that, "President Abbas' term ends on 9 January 2009, and this should help build national reconciliation. There must be a Palestinian president who reunites the Palestinian people and speaks on behalf of both Fatah and Hamas."

Siyam would not be drawn, however, on the issue of whether Hamas would take part in the presidential elections, and said that this would need to be resolved within the movement.

He added that little progress has been made in moving towards national unity and since this situation was partly Abbas' fault, it fell upon him to resolve the situation before he leaves office.

"The moment for reconciliation will come when they find out that compromise with Israel is mirage and illusion. We know that within Fatah and its revolutionary council, there is a trend who wants to hold dialogue with Hamas, and so this rupture will not last forever," Siyam stated.

He went on to suggest that the dialogue should be overseen by Qatari sponsors in association with the Arab League, after they successfully brokered a deal between the warring factions in Lebanon. He revealed that Hamas leader in exile, Khaled Mesha'al, has contacted Qatari officials for that purpose

Commenting on Siyam's declarations, Fatah's spokesman in the West Bank Fahmi Za'arir said, "Siyam holds no official posts in the Palestinian Authority… thus, he is unauthorized to make legal declarations. We believe that Siyam's declarations show that Hamas are preparing to maintain divisions."

He added that, "the movement is also committed to president Abbas' call for early elections, both legislative and presidential, as a means to restore Palestinian unity."

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