Ramallah, WEST BANK (Al Arabiya)
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah party lashed out at the Islamist Hamas movement on Monday, blaming it for the failure of an Egypt-proposed Palestinian unity agreement.
The vitriol came as Abbas prepared to leave for Egypt later on Monday for talks with President Hosni Mubarak on Tuesday on the reconciliation process.
"Hamas has a bigger stock of lies than Netanyahu," Mohammed Dahlan, a senior Fatah official, told reporters in Ramallah, referring to the right-wing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
" Egypt is not prepared to wait forever " Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hossam Zaki "They got everything they asked for in the Egyptian document, and we in Fatah knew that our position would draw fire from the sons of Fatah... But despite all this we agreed to it," he said.
"Hamas has thwarted all efforts. They have frustrated us and Egypt."
Egypt has been struggling to broker a reconciliation agreement between the two main Palestinian factions for months and this month proposed an agreement that would see new elections held in June. |
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Fatah vs Hamas " Hamas has a bigger stock of lies than Netanyahu " Mohammed Dahlan, Fatah Fatah has signed the agreement while Hamas has repeatedly postponed its official response, saying it needs more time to mull the deal.
Dahlan insisted that in the absence of a deal Abbas would call elections for January in accordance with the constitution.
"We have taken our final decision to go to elections at the constitutionally appointed time... because we respect the law," he said.
The bitter divisions between Fatah and Hamas go back to the start of limited Palestinian self-rule in the 1990s, when Fatah strongmen cracked down on the Islamist group.
Egypt warned late Sunday it would not wait "forever" for Palestinian factions to agree a unity deal after the Islamist movement Hamas postponed signing the accord with its Fatah rivals.
"Egypt is not prepared to wait forever," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hossam Zaki told Al Arabiya.
The signing of the unity agreement was to be held in Cairo on Oct. 26.
"The document prepared by Egypt is not a document (meant for) negotiations. The negotiations lasted several months," Zaki said.
"Egypt has received comments from all factions and has discussed them with everyone at the highest level, including Hamas, which sent the head of its political bureau to Cairo for more details."
"It is therefore surprising to hear... now that Hamas still has reservations about when the draft agreement should be signed," Zaki said. |
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Bad faith " It is therefore surprising to hear... now that Hamas still has reservations about when the draft agreement should be signed " Zaki Earlier, an Egyptian official accused Hamas of bad faith over its refusal to sign up to the unity deal on schedule.
"Egypt was surprised by Hamas's procrastination when it said it could not come to Cairo on the planned date," the state-owned al-Ahram newspaper quoted the unnamed official as saying.
"The delay to reconciliation and the fact that Hamas has stirred up such a terrifying atmosphere in the Palestinian territories shows that Hamas lacks good faith and has its own agenda," the official said.
Egypt announced on Friday that, at the Islamists' request, its mediators had indefinitely postponed their deadline for Hamas to sign the unity deal.
The agreement provides the reinstatement of 3,000 members of the former Fatah-led security apparatus in Gaza.
It would be implemented by a joint committee appointed by presidential decree and made up of members of Fatah, Hamas and other factions.
(With Agencies) |
