http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4§ion=0&article=118567&d=27&m=1&y=2009
Tuesday 27 January 2009 (30 Muharram 1430)
Fatah, Hamas disagree on border reopening
Mona Salem I Arab News
FACING TOUGH TIME: A Palestinian carries sacks of flour at the UN
Relief and Works Agency warehouse in Jebaliya refugee camp, in Gaza City, on
Monday. (AP)
CAIRO: Hamas rivals Fatah called yesterday for the forming of a national
unity government acceptable to the international community before Gaza's
crossings open, a position in apparent conflict with that of Hamas.
"We want a government of national unity which will supervise
reconstruction and crossing points so the crossing points are completely open,
so that we can bring in products necessary for reconstruction," Azzam Al-Ahmed,
who heads Fatah's parliamentary group, told journalists.
Ahmed had met earlier in the day with Jamal Abu Hashim, a member of a
Hamas delegation from Gaza, to discuss the resumption of reconciliation talks.
"It was a consultative meeting to break the ice and to go forward toward
reconciliation," Ahmed said. "We have agreed to follow up on the meeting."
Hamas and Fatah have been bitterly divided since Hamas, which won a
majority in 2006 parliamentary elections, seized Gaza in 2007, routing forces
loyal to Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas.
The last direct talks between Fatah and Hamas took place in Yemen in
March 2008, but Sanaa's efforts at reconciliation came to nothing. Egyptian
reconciliation efforts collapsed in November after Hamas said Fatah was
arresting its members in the West Bank.
"We must guarantee that any future government will not be boycotted,"
Ahmed said, referring to the West's refusal to deal with a government that
includes Hamas ministers unless the Islamists renounce violence and recognize
Israel. Ahmed stressed that Fatah is obliged to take the position of the
international community, which calls for Hamas to satisfy certain conditions
and for forces loyal to Fatah to return to the Gaza Strip.
The Fatah position appears to be in opposition to that of the Hamas,
which said following Egyptian-brokered talks on Sunday that they want Gaza's
crossing points open before Palestinian reconciliation talks and that Hamas
would have to take part in Gaza's reconstruction.
A Hamas delegation which was in Cairo said that they would mull an
Israeli proposal for an 18-month renewable truce in Gaza, but said the issue of
policing Egypt's Rafah crossing point with Gaza was "complex and thorny."
"We are open to the presence of European observers, Turkish observers and
forces from Gaza's national security to open (Rafah) on a temporary basis until
the formation of a national unity government," Hamas leader Ayman Taha said.
Under a 2005 deal, Rafah can only be opened to normal traffic if EU
observers and forces loyal to the Palestinian Authority which was ejected from
Gaza in 2007 are present.
Hamas wants to "complete the truce, lift the siege and reopen the
crossings before engaging in (Palestinian national) reconciliation," Taha said.
Several Palestinian factions, including Fatah, the Popular and Democratic
Fronts for the Liberation of Palestine, and Islamic Jihad have been arriving in
Cairo for further truce and reconciliation talks.
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