'Fatah, Hamas reconciliation is close'

PA official says that all Palestinian political parties will meet on November 9 "on one political platform."

By TOVAH LAZAROFF
Abbas Haniyeh 224.88 (photo credit: AP [file])
Abbas Haniyeh 224.88
(photo credit: AP [file])
Fatah and Hamas could begin to reunite as early as November 9, at a National Reconciliation session in Cairo, said Muhammad Shtayyeh, president of the Palestinian Economic Council for Development and Reconstruction. He spoke Tuesday at the 10th anniversary celebration of the Peres Center for Peace at the Dan Hotel in Tel Aviv. His words carried weight because he was introduced as the representative of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Shtayyeh took issue with a statement that the moderator, CNN correspondent Christiane Amanpour, made about the split between Fatah and Hamas. Looking at Amanpour, he said, "You said that the Palestinians have a divided house. I want to comfort all of you that on the ninth of November there will be a session of national reconciliation based on the appeal of President Abu Mazen [Abbas]. "This Palestinian reconciliation will bring all the Palestinian [political] parties [together], all in one, on one political platform. That is a platform for peace," Shtayyeh said. Upon hearing his statement, Amanpour said she was tempted to leave the stage and file his statement as a news flash to CNN. Shtayyeh spoke a day after Abbas announced that he had reached an agreement with Egypt on ending the Hamas-Fatah power struggle. The Egyptians are hoping to host the national reconciliation conference for all Palestinian groups in Cairo next month. "All the Palestinian factions have accepted the Egyptian initiative," said Shtayyeh. He added that once the document that he hoped would emerge from the conference was agreed upon by all the Palestinian political parties, including Hamas, "it becomes an Arab League decision binding to every faction." Still, Abbas's announcement, which came after he met in Cairo with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, surprised Hamas officials, who said they were unaware of any progress toward ending the crisis with Fatah. Sitting in the audience at the Peres Center on Monday, Mufid Abed Rabbo, who belongs to the PA's Foreign Relations Commission, said it was too optimistic to expect to immediately heal the rift between Hamas and Fatah. "It needs too many introductions and requirements," he told The Jerusalem Post after the panel discussion. Both groups need to agree on their objectives, which should include a decision by Hamas to obligate themselves to all past agreements that have been signed with the international community and with Israel, he said. "I do not think that Hamas really is ready to meet this big issue," Abed Rabbo said. Secondarily, he said, he was worried that there was still too much anger and resentment between the two groups as a result of the split. They might, he said, announce an agreement next month, "but in the details there are too many obstacles, and as a result, the agreement will not succeed."