Fateh delegates meet Egypt’s Intelligence Chief

Wednesday September 24, 2008 06:11 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies

Palestinian delegates of the Fateh movement met in Cairo on Tuesday with the Egyptian Intelligence Chief, Omar Suleiman. The meeting comes as part of the preparations for an upcoming internal Palestinian talks supervised by Egypt.

The delegates, headed by Nabil Shaath, presented a proposal which outlines Fateh’s vision towards reconciliation with Hamas.

Shaath informed reporters that Cairo will call for a comprehensive national dialogue which aims at ending the internal Palestinian crisis, and added that these talks would be held on the first week of November this year.  

Shaath added that Fateh listened to a detailed explanation from Suleiman on the Egyptian position regarding reconciliation between Fateh and Hamas and on the Egyptian position regarding unifying the Palestinian people and ending the divisions that are negatively affecting the Palestinian cause.

Azzam Al Ahmad, head of the Fateh parliamentarian bloc said that the Egyptian mechanism towards ending the internal divisions is based on two cornerstones;

First, forming a unity government approved by all factions, in charge of preparing legislative and presidential elections after reaching a comprehensive unity deal; and second, rebuilding security devices in a professional manner.

Egypt hopes that iftwill help Palestinians sign a unity deal in November this year after comprehensive talks.

After the unity government is formed it will start unifying all Palestinian Authority institutions in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

Al Ahmad said that talks cannot be conducted while Palestinians continue to have two governments and two authorities.

Delegates of Hamas will arrive in Egypt on 8 October to hold talks with Egyptian leadership members.

On the Palestinian-Israeli side, chief Palestinian negotiator Ahmad Qurea’, warned that violence could ignite if the Palestinian-Israeli talks collapse.

Qurea’ added that if the Palestinians reach a dead zone in peace talks with Israel, they will have no other option but resistance by all means.

In an interview with Reuters, Qurea’ emphasized the Palestinian rejection of the Israeli proposal which aims at achieving a speedy peace deal but excludes sensitive issues such as Jerusalem and the refugees.

“Such a deal will not end the occupation, and will not lead to any results”, he added.     

He also doubted whether or not Palestinians and Israelies will be able to reach a final peace deal by the end of this year because Israel is still presenting a partial proposal and is busy with internal political changes. He also said that the Palestinian divisions and internal conflict obstructs achieving a comprehensive deal.

arab world | internal unrest | news report saed at imemc dot org