Egypt may cancel Palestinian talks

Hamas threatens to stay away from reconciliation conference, bars Fatah from marking Arafat's death.

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH
Mahmoud Zahar 248.88 ap (photo credit: AP [file])
Mahmoud Zahar 248.88 ap
(photo credit: AP [file])
The Egyptians may postpone next week's "national reconciliation" conference for the Palestinian factions following threats by Hamas to boycott the gathering, Palestinian Authority officials said Thursday. In a separate development, the Hamas government decided Thursday to ban Fatah supporters from marking the fourth anniversary of the death of Yasser Arafat. Hamas's security forces arrested dozens of Fatah supporters in the southern Gaza Strip in the past few days to prevent them from preparing for the anniversary celebrations. The PA officials told The Jerusalem Post that Hamas has informed the Egyptians that the movement has many reservations regarding the Egyptian initiative for solving the crisis between Hamas and Fatah. They added that Hamas was afraid that the PA would use the conference as a means of pressure on the Islamic movement to end its control over the Gaza Strip. At least six Arab foreign ministers have been invited to the parley, in addition to Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa. "Hamas is afraid that the conference would force it to accept the Egyptian initiative," said a PA official in Ramallah. "Hamas doesn't like the Egyptian proposals because they want to continue their rule over the Gaza Strip." The official said that Hamas was also opposed to the idea of deploying an Arab peace-keeping force in the Gaza Strip and bringing forces loyal to PA President Mahmoud Abbas back to the Rafah border crossing. Earlier this week, Hamas dispatched its top official, Mahmoud Zahar, to Cairo in a last-minute bid to persuade the Egyptians to change some of their proposals. Zahar met with Egyptian Intelligence Chief Gen. Omar Suleiman, who is personally supervising the mediation efforts, but failed to convince him to make the required changes. During the visit, Zahar also made it clear that Hamas would boycott the planned conference unless Abbas's forces halted their crackdown on Hamas supporters and released all Hamas detainees in the West Bank. Zahar also demanded that there be no reference to the tahadiyeh [period of calm] with Israel during the conference, arguing that this was an Israeli-Palestinian issue and not an internal Palestinian case. Zahar said Thursday that Hamas may eventually decide to go the conference despite the "many obstacles" that stand in the way of ending the crisis with Fatah. Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum accused Abbas of lying when he announced that the PA was not holding any Hamas men in its prisons in the West Bank. "The continued arrests [of Hamas members in the West Bank] jeopardize the Egyptian efforts to end the crisis," Barhoum said. "Abbas and his officials in Ramallah are committing a big crime by denying that Hamas members are not being held in their prison cells. This shows that they don't have good intentions." Yussef Farhat, a top Hamas official in the Gaza Strip, said he was "very pessimistic" regarding the prospects of success of the Cairo conference. "The Egyptian plan looks as if it were written by Fatah spokesmen," he said. "I would not be exaggerating if I said that the plan is an anti-Hamas initiative. Besides, the Egyptians are trying to impose the plan on all the Palestinian factions, ignoring our reservations and ideas." Farhat said Hamas was also opposed to the plan because it allows Abbas to remain in power after his term in power expires in January 2009. "What's outrageous is that the Egyptians are treating their plan as if it were a holy book," he added. "They have made it clear to all parties that the plan is final and that they don't want to hear any reservations."