RAMALLAH, October 2 (JMCC) - A seeming breakthrough in talks between rival Palestinian factions
Hamas and
Fateh has come about after a thaw in Hamas-Egypt relations, reports al-Ahram Weekly.
Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal and Egyptian security chief Omar Suleiman met during Ramadan in Mecca while Meshaal was carrying out pilgrimage. Subsequently, Egypt released Hamas official Mohammed Dababsh and promised to release all Hamas prisoners in Egyptian jails.
An actual agreement between Fateh and Hamas appears on the horizon, sources told the newspaper, with meetings scheduled for early October. A document exists as a framework to agreement, with two outstanding issues.
Cairo was adamant, he said, that the Egyptian proposals are not revised, though any Palestinian- Palestinian agreement was not a problem. If certain understandings are reached by the Palestinian parties, Cairo will take them into consideration and commit to them during the implementation of the reconciliation agreement. This was an important clarification, and accordingly a meeting was arranged between Hamas and Fatah, Al-Reshq said.
The Hamas official noted that there appeared to be genuine desire on both sides to achieve reconciliation, again emphasizing that Egypt did not object to Palestinian-Palestinian understandings and had not issued any prerequisites that these be reached after the signing of the Egyptian plan.
Read the story at al-Ahram...