PA rejects unconditional dialogue as Hamas and Fateh leaders meet with Egyptian officials

Date: 30 / 01 / 2008 Time: 10:37

Gaza – Ma'an –

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday reiterated the Palestinian Authority's (PA) readiness to hold dialogue with Hamas, but only on condition that they retract their military takeover of the Gaza Strip, which the PA views as illegal.

Abbas was speaking to journalists in Cairo after he met with the Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak on Wednesday. Mubarak has recently called on Palestinian rivals Fateh and Hamas to meet in Cairo under Egyptian mediation and resume unconditional dialogue aimed at restoring Palestinian unity.

Hamas accepted the Egyptian proposal for dialogue while the Fateh-dominated Palestinian Authority demanded that Hamas relinquish control of the Gaza Strip before beginning talks.

"We are ready for dialogue with Hamas in case they recognize the international legitimacy and agree on early elections. Our minds and hearts will then be open to them," Abbas said.

"We are concerned with Palestinian interests, and if Hamas really has the same concerns, they must stick to the agreements which the legitimate Palestinian authority had signed with different international actors," Abbas added.

Rafah

Senior Hamas leader Mahmoud Al-Zahar, who is heading the Hamas delegation to Egypt, told the press on Wednesday that the issue of the siege on the Gaza Strip and the border crossings will be the on top the agenda of a series of meetings in Egypt.

The Hamas delegation includes, in addition to Al-Zahar, former Palestinian Interior Minister Sa'id Siyam and Jamal Abu Hashim.

With regards to the Rafah crossing, Zahar told the journalists who were at the crossing before he left, "Rafah crossing must be under Egyptian-Palestinian control only, and if we agree to keep it open, there will be no need to keep the border walls open."

The Hamas delegation from the Gaza Strip is supposed to join a group of Hamas leaders in exile. It is believed that Khalid Mesha'al will head the joint delegation.

Earlier this week, Hamas leaders repeatedly called for scrapping the 2005 Agreement on Movement and Access, that requires European monitors to be at Rafah in order for the crossing to open, and gives Israel indirect power to open and close the border.

While Hamas wants a role in operate the borders of the Gaza Strip, which it controls, the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority also wants to operate the crossings.

Israel wants PA control

For their part, Israeli officials said that Israel would welcome any agreement reached between the Egypt and the Palestinian Authority regarding control over the Gaza Strip's borders with Egypt.

"If president Abbas and president Hosni Mubarak reach any agreement on Egyptian-Palestinian control over the Rafah crossing, Israel will certainly not oppose such arrangements," an Israeli political official said.

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