Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is scheduled to hold talks in
Cairo in Monday with Gen. Mohammed Tantawi, head of the ruling Supreme Council
of the Egyptian Armed Forces.
It would be Abbas’s second visit to Cairo
since Hosni Mubarak was forced to step down earlier this year as
president.
RELATED:450 Gazans enter Egypt on first day of Rafah openingRafah deal underlines Cairo’s warming ties with HamasAbbas’s talks with Tantawi will focus on the latest
developments in the region and the PA’s efforts to secure backing for its
intention to ask the United Nations in September to recognize a Palestinian
state on the 1967 lines.
Abbas will also brief Tantawi on the outcome of
the emergency meeting of Arab League foreign ministers in Qatar on
Saturday.
The ministers met at the request of the PA leadership to
discuss recent statements by US President Barack Obama and Prime Minister
Binyamin Netanyahu concerning the peace process.
The PLO envoy to Cairo,
Barakat Farra, announced that Abbas would also thank Tantawi for his decision to
reopen the Rafah border crossing with Gaza permanently and his efforts to
achieve reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah.
In the past, the PA
leadership was opposed to the reopening of the terminal, out of fear that such a
move would bolster Hamas and tighten its grip on the Gaza Strip.
Abbas’s
talks with Tantawi and other Egyptian officials will also deal with efforts to
establish a Palestinian unity government as envisaged by the reconciliation
accord.
Hamas and Fatah negotiators have failed to agree on the identity
of the prime minister who would head the unity government.
Hamas
reiterated on Saturday its strong opposition to the appointment of current PA
prime minister Salam Fayyad to head the proposed unity government.
Nizar
Ramadan, a Hamas official from Hebron, was quoted over the weekend as saying
that far as his movement was concerned, Fayyad was a persona non grata. He
accused Fayyad of committing “many violations,” especially because he was
responsible for the crackdown on Hamas supporters in the West
Bank.
Ramadan claimed that Fatah was also opposed to the appointment of
Fayyad as head of the unity government.