http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1054544.html
Last update - 23:42 11/01/2009
Egypt: Hamas agrees that fighting in Gaza must end
By The Associated Press
Tags: hamas, Israel News, gaza
Talks are progressing between Egyptian officials and a Hamas delegation
dispatched to Cairo on finding an end to the fighting in the Gaza Strip,
Egypt's state-owned news agency reported on Sunday.
The agency an unnamed Egyptian official as saying that the Hamas
delegation has agreed on the need to stop fighting as soon as possible.
The officials characterized the negotiations between the nation's
powerful intelligence chief Omar Suleiman and a Hamas delegation as positive.
Two of Hamas' Syria-based leaders and three officials from Gaza participated in
the talks.
MENA says the talks will resume Monday for a cease-fire agreement.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Tuesday announced a three point
cease-fire initiative which Hamas initially rejected, insisting it needed
provisions for a lifting of the siege on Gaza.
Both Hamas and Israel have rebuffed a United Nations Security Council
resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire in the Gaza Strip, as Israel's
offensive against the Islamist organization enters its third week.
On Thursday the UN Security Council voted on a resolution calling for an
immediate ceasefire in Gaza, but the United States unexpectedly abstained in
the vote, saying talks on a truce were still under way through Egyptian
mediation.
An exiled Hamas leader said on Friday the United States appeared to want
to give Israel more time to persist with the Gaza offensive.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, meanwhile, said Israel had rejected
resolution on the grounds that "sharply rules out continued attacks directed
against civilians and does not forbid urgent action against them."
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a.. Hamas: UN Gaza truce resolution 'does not meet our demands'
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