Palestinian rival leaders fail to agree on coalition
Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas’ exiled chief failed to resolve an increasingly bitter dispute and form a unity government, dashing hopes for a quick end to the political crisis.
However, Abbas and Hamas top leader Khaled Mashaal yesterday said the two sides “achieved major progress” during their meeting in Syria – the first since July 2005 – and pledged to continue talks on forming a coalition government within the next two weeks, according to a joint statement.
“There are still points of disagreement, but we will try to resolve them through a national dialogue until we form a national unity government,” Mashaal said during a press conference with Abbas in Damascus.
The two sides stressed that recent Palestinian infighting, which has killed at least 62 people, was unacceptable and pledged to try to avoid political friction that has been sparking the violence.
“Palestinian bloodshed was considered totally prohibited, and we must exert all efforts to avoid frictions and internal clashes,” Abbas said.
Both sides also reiterated their rejection of an Israeli proposal for a transitional Palestinian state with temporary borders.
There had been hopes that the Abbas-Mashaal meeting would make headway in forming the unity government and end months of deadly violence in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Both sides said differences remain unsettled but did not provide details. The thorniest issues have been control of the two factions’ security forces and Hamas’ refusal to recognise Israel or commit to previous accords signed between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
A Fatah official in the Gaza Strip was optimistic about the meeting, saying that Abbas and Mashaal agreed to let an independent run the Interior Ministry, though they did not agree on who specifically should lead the powerful security wing.
“I think some things were accomplished. Some issues were resolved and others remain problematic. That would need continuation of dialogue here in Gaza and mediation in Damascus,” said Abdel Hakim Awad, Fatah’s spokesman in Gaza. He also said disputes remain over how the official document laying out the new government would be worded.
Hamas swept to power in elections last year and controls the Palestinian parliament and Cabinet, but it is labelled by the US as a terrorist group. Its refusal to recognise Israel’s right to exist led to Western sanctions that have paralysed the Palestinian economy. Abbas, who leads the mainstream Fatah party and is widely seen as a moderate, was elected president separately.
Syria hosts the exiled leadership of a number of Palestinian militant groups - among them Mashaal, who has lived in Damascus since 1997, when he survived an Israeli assassination attempt in Jordan.
Yesterday’s meeting came after intense Syrian mediation and shuttle talks that Syrian Vice president Farouk al-Sharaa held first with Mashaal, and later with Abbas.
The deputy head of Hamas’ politburo Moussa Abu Marzouk told The Associated Press earlier Sunday that “active and serious mediation” by the Syrians had succeeded in convincing Abbas and Mashaal to hold the long-negotiated talks after they had been postponed Saturday because of differences.
Abu Marzouk previously had blamed Abbas for the breakdown of talks and hinted that the president had come under Israeli and US pressure not to meet with Mashaal.
Abbas has been pushing Hamas for months to form a unity government of independent experts in hopes of ending the sanctions and has threatened to call early elections if the two sides can’t agree. Abbas, Israel and the international community want Hamas to recognise Israel’s right to exist and abide by past agreements signed between Israel and the Palestinians.
Hamas has said it would be willing to respect only previous agreements it deems as fair to the Palestinians. But this falls short of international and Israeli demands that all earlier accords be recognised by Hamas.
In the Hamas stronghold of Gaza – where tensions between the two factions frequently have exploded into open warfare – Palestinian prime minister Ismail Haniyeh, of Hamas, downplayed the significance of the Abbas-Mashaal meeting and said representatives from the two sides would meet tomorrow in Gaza to continue the dialogue.
Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said a single meeting between the two sides was not expected to solve all outstanding issues, but it overcame some obstacles.
“We consider the meeting itself a positive step. It was a good step to seriously build on to form a national unity government,” Barhoum said.
