A spokesman with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement on Sunday reiterated Fatah 's terms for talks with Hamas, saying that Hamas' ending grip on the Gaza Strip is the shortest way to resume dialogue.
Fahmi Za'areer, Fatah spokesman based in this West Bank city, said deposed Hamas prime minister Ismail Haneya "knows very well that ending his movement's military coup is the shortest way to resume our dialogue."
"Unfortunately, Haneya is not sincere when he says he wants to resume dialogue, while his militias (Hamas' Executive Force) are going ahead in repressing people, scaring them and committing crimes against humanity," Za'areer claimed.
On Saturday, another Fatah spokesman Ahmad Abdel Rahman denied reports of Fatah-Hamas talks. "There are no contacts, dialogues or even meetings between Fatah leaders and Hamas officials," he said.
Fatah's central committee considered Hamas' takeover of the Gaza Strip in June "a coup," Abdel Rahman said. "Before any dialogue, the coup and its aftermaths must end and Hamas leaders must stop their daily aggressive acts in the Gaza Strip," he reiterated.
Hamas militants overran Fatah men in mid-June and took control of the Gaza Strip, which prompted Abbas to sack the Hamas-led government and appointed a new one in Ramallah, led by U.S.-backed prime minister Salam Fayyad.
As a result, the geographically-divided Palestinian territories has been politically split into two parts with two governments -- with Hamas running Gaza and Fatah holding the West Bank.
Following Hamas' violent takeover of the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian national dialogue between Fatah and Hamas also collapsed with Abbas announcing severing all contacts with Hamas.
Hamas and its leaders, including Haneya, have been calling for dialogues with Fatah, but their calls have been rejected by Fatah and Abbas since mid-June.
On Thursday, Haneya said he was ready to meet Abbas anywhere to hold dialogues and end ongoing internal political crisis.
A statement issued by Haneya's office said Haneya expressed his readiness to meet Abbas during phone conversations with several Arab leaders on the eve of the holy Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which started on Thursday.
Haneya said he wanted the dialogue to "restore the Palestinian people's unity and end the divisions among them."
But Abbas has repeatedly rejects Hamas' calls for dialogues unless the Islamic movement retreated "the coup against the Palestinian legitimacy." He also demanded Hamas to give up its control of the Gaza Strip.
So far, Hamas has been only calling for resumption of dialogue with Abbas. It hasn't presented any initiative that included details on what would be the results of the dialogue.
Source: Xinhua
|
Comment
Tell A Friend
Print Format
Save Article