Official Hamas-Fat'h talks begin in Cairo

Date: 26 / 02 / 2009  Time:  11:28
Gaza/Bethlehem – Ma’an –

Rival Palestinian factions officially began negotiations in Cairo in an attempt to form a unity government after nearly two years of division.

In the opening of the session, Egyptian intelligence chief Umar Sulaiman called on the Palestinian factions to make decisions and independent of “regional influences.”

Suleiman called on all the Palestinian factions and the Palestinian Authority to set their differences aside. He also said the factions must unite because the Palestinian cause is facing an “exceptional situation.”

Sulaiman showed optimism regarding the dialogue: “The outcomes of this meeting will be a milestone in the history of Palestinian people as well as being the glimmer of hope that would take Palestinian reality into new horizons.”

He added that it is “not impossible” to end the state of division in Palestine.

Meanwhile, the Arab League is forming a special committee to follow up on efforts to reunite Hamas and Fat'h, a senior Hamas leader said on Thursday.

Hamas leader Ismail Radwan said that the committee, along with five other Palestinian committees, would be named on Thursday. According to Umar Suleiman, the committees will begin work on 8 March.

The five committees of Hamas and Fatah negotiators will hammer out the details of a plan to restore unity to Palestinian politics after nearly two years of division. The panels will address the formation of a transitional government, the timing of elections, reform of the security services, the integration of Hamas into the PLO, and other issues.

Radwan said that several Palestinian factions would be involved in the PLO committee, which will reform the PLO based on a 2005 Hamas-Fat'h agreement. Currently Hamas and Islamic Jihad are barred from the organization.

Radwan said Hamas views the Egyptian-sponsored talks with Hamas “positively,” welcoming Fat'h’s pledge to release Hamas political prisoners in the West Bank. He said the prisoners should be released soon if the talks are to succeed. He also said it would be critical for the Palestinian Authority to reopen Hamas-linked educational, charity, health and media institutions that had been shut down in the West Bank.

After wining parliamentary elections in 2006, Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip in June 2007, fearing a coup by Fat'h. After Hamas prevailed in the fighting in Gaza, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas dismissed a Hamas-Fat'h unity government and appointed a caretaker government that still holds power in the West Bank.


***Updated at 12:51 Bethlehem time

Haniyah: Unity critical to national interests

Date: 26 / 02 / 2009  Time:  13:27
Gaza – Ma’an –

National dialogue is the only way to save the Palestinian nation, de facto Prime Minister Ismail Haniyah said on Thursday

In an interview with the Hamas-affiliated website Palestinian Information Center, Haniyah said, “The dialogue is the bridge toward upholding Palestinian rights, protecting the nation and their sacrifices, and rebuilding the PLO based on new democratic terms.”

Haniyah’s comments were made public as direct talks between Hamas and its rival, Fatah, began in the Egyptian capital, Cairo.

The Hamas leader cited that the Cairo agreement of 2005, the national reconciliation document, the Mecca agreement of 2007, the higher follow-up committee for the Intifada in Gaza, and the committee of coordination between Palestinian factions in the West Bank as the basis for reconciliation with Fatah.

Haniyah said that Hamas and Fatah should be “partners in steadfastness and reconstruction,” arguing that it is vital to rebuild the Gaza Strip after Israel’s three-week offensive against the territory.

The prime minister also said that Israel’s complex, ongoing post-election process of forming a coalition is holding up Egyptian-brokered negotiations toward a truce in Gaza. He said that Israel “change its mind” when Hamas and the Palestinian Authority reached “a common understanding.”

"We are with the interests of our people and we can achieve this interest but Israel retreated and had some specific misunderstanding with the Egyptian leadership regarding the truce and the other demands,” added Haniyah.

Haniyah also pointed to what he called the electoral “failure” of the Israeli politicians who waged the Gaza war.

Peace negotiators urge US and Israel to engage Hamas

Date: 26 / 02 / 2009  Time:  11:09
Bethlehem – Ma’an/Agencies –

The United States and Israel must engage Hamas if progress is to be made on peace in the Middle East, a group of prominent former peace negotiators said on Thursday.

Writing in Britain's Times newspaper, 14 former foreign ministers and peace negotiators said the three-year policy under which Hamas has been shunned by the international community had backfired and needed to be changed, according to Reuters.

"There can be no meaningful peace process that involves negotiating with the representatives of one part of the Palestinians while simultaneously trying to destroy the other," wrote the signatories, who include Britain's Paddy Ashdown, a former negotiator in Bosnia, and Michael Ancram, who helped broker peace with the IRA in Northern Ireland, according to Reuters.

Former Israeli foreign minister Shlomo Ben-Ami also signed the letter.

Hamas won internationally-supervised Palestinian parliamentary election in January 2006, defeating long-time rival Fatah.

Following their victory, Hamas was immediately cut off by Israel, the United States and the European Union, which regard it as a terrorist organization. Peace negotiations have, however, continued with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, the leader of Fatah.

The officials said Israel's recent war against Hamas in Gaza had "demonstrated that the policy of isolating Hamas cannot bring about stability."

"Bringing Hamas into the process does not amount to condoning terrorism or attacks on civilians," the letter will say, according to excerpts provided to Reuters in advance.

The letter is published ahead of a visit to the region by George Mitchell, the newly appointed US envoy to the Middle East, and Javier Solana, the European Union's foreign policy chief.

Fat'h and Hamas agree to release prisoners

Date: 26 / 02 / 2009  Time:  09:43
Bethlehem – Ma’an –

Rival Palestinian movements Fat'h and Hamas agreed on Wednesday to release political prisoners in the West Bank and Gaza and cease incitement in the media.

Senior leaders Mahmoud Al-Zahar of Hamas and Azzam Al-Ahmed of Fat'h held a joint press conference in Cairo after officials from the two movements met.

Al-Zahar said that there were more than 400 Hamas political prisoners in Palestinian Authority jails in the West Bank, 80 of whom were released this week. He said Hamas is contacting President Mahmoud Abbas and Fatah leader Ahmad Qurei to arrange the release of the rest.

For his part, Azzam Al-Ahmed said that Hamas had lifted the house arrest that was imposed on some Fatah leaders in Gaza.

They said that two committees have been formed, one in the West Bank and one in Gaza, aimed at following up on the issues of political arrests and media incitement.

He confirmed that the two groups agreed to form a national consensus government and to reform the Palestinian security forces.

Both said that Israel had exploited the division between Hamas and Fatah in order to abort the peace process and carry out the recent war in Gaza.

They confirmed that five committees tasked with dealing with the details of national reconciliation would begin work on Thursday. Al-Zahar and Al-Ahmed said they would not “push their noses” in the work of those committees, and would accept whatever recommendations they put forward.

Al-Zahar also said, “We will not recognize Israel and we do not wish so.” He said that Hamas would benefit from this opportunity since they are there to make the dialogue succeed.

Al-Ahmed clarified that they do not want to go back to the situation of division, and that Palestinians want the political rift to end.

Al-Ahmed said during an interview on Al-Jazeera television both movements are optimistic regarding the dialogue.