Egypt's mediation efforts to resume an inter-Palestinian dialogue stepped into a new stage after intelligence chief Omar Suleiman's Wednesday talks with Hamas movement on means of ending the current inter-Palestinian feud.
Up to now, Egypt has finished a series of separate talks with some 12 Palestinian factions that kicked off in late August as Hamas was the last Palestinian group engaged in the bilateral meeting with Egypt.
In an interview with the Egyptian MENA news agency on Thursday, Palestinian ambassador in Cairo Nabil Amr voiced his appreciation to the Egyptian efforts to help end the inter-Palestinian division.
"Positive indications had emerged recently during bilateral dialogues held between Egypt and the Palestinian factions, including Hamas," Amr said.
On Wednesday, Suleiman held talks with a Hamas delegation led by the movement's deputy politburo chief Moussa Abu Marzouk, which was meant to pave the way for the formation of a new Palestinian unity government that "will be entrusted with negotiating an end to the Israeli-imposed siege on the Gaza Strip and arranging for (Palestinian) presidential and legislative elections."
Abu Marzouk told a press conference following the meeting that Egypt will invite the Palestinian movements Fatah and Hamas later this month to discuss the differences between the two rivals.
In a bid to narrow the gaps between Hamas and Fatah, five committees will be set up to discuss the differences between the two major Palestinian movements, said Abu Marzouk.
According to him, the five committees will deal with matters including the formation of a new Palestinian government, development of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, the Palestinian elections, rebuilding of Palestinian security organizations and the status of the Gaza Strip.
Abu Marzouk said his movement will keep on what the Palestinian factions agreed on.
Describing his talks with Suleiman as "positive," Abu Marzouk said the two sides exchanged opinions frankly and their stances are very close, adding Egypt will offer a final vision after crystallizing it following Wednesday's meeting.
Earlier reports said the proposed Hamas-Fatah meeting was scheduled for Oct. 25, along with a series of talks among various Palestinian groups in the near future.
On Thursday, an official from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement said that Fatah doesn't mind meeting its rival Hamas movement, but not prior to an agreement on ending the Palestinian schism.
"There is a possibility that Hamas and Fatah officials meet in Cairo but upon a mechanism of dialogue," said Fatah official Abdullah Abu Samhadana.
"If Hamas agreed to sit with us and talk after agreeing on ending the rift, this will be ok," Abu Samhadana said, expressing hopes that Hamas may accept to do this.
But earlier in the day, Azzam el-Ahmad, chief of the parliamentary block of Fatah in the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), denied that his movement has been invited by the Egyptian mediators to have bilateral talks with Hamas in Cairo on Oct. 25.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement on Thursday voiced its support to a national dialogue as the only way to end the prolonged Palestinian rift and political crisis.
"Every party should play a role in making the dialogue successful in order to get out of the crisis which is now threatening the future of the Palestinian people and their cause," said Khader Habib, a leader of the smaller Islamic group.
In the coming weeks, Egypt will launch a new round of intensive mediation talks with Palestinian factions and the Palestinian reconciliation dialogue was expected to start in early November.
In the interview with MENA, Amr stressed that President Abbas is in favor of any proposal that could lead to Palestinian unity and will coordinate with all factions to render the Egypt-brokered Palestinian national dialogue a success.
Source: Xinhua
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