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Hamas, Al-Fatah Seal Reconciliation Pact in Egypt
May 13, 2011
Now time to see a shift in Palestinian politics where Alfateh and Hammas have joined hands together that is being attributes a major political shift also alarming the Israeli leaders as well.
The Al-Fatah and Hamas movements, the most representatives of the Palestinian people, ratified an agreement on last Wednesday sealing their reconciliation, pledging the formation of a provisional government and elections within a year. In a ceremony well-attended by diplomats, Arab foreign ministers and representatives of 11 other Palestinian groups, leaders Khaled Meshaal of Hamas and Mahmoud Abbas of Al-Fatah expressed their willingness to end over four years of rivalry.
The headquarters of the Egypt Intelligence Service was the venue for the first face-to-face meeting between Marshaal, an Islamist political leader exiled in Syria, and Abbas, who is also president of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), which currently has jurisdiction only in the West Bank.
The official signing ceremony for the agreement, an amended version of an Egyptian proposal approved by Al-Fatah in October 2009, was witnessed by leaders of the 11 groups that endorsed it here one week after the amendment made by Hamas.
According to the document, a provisional cabinet will be formed to end the division between the West Bank, under Al-Fatah control, and the Gaza Strip, controlled by Hamas since 2007, and to prepare presidential and legislative elections within one year.
Three separate committees will be created to plan the elections, reform the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO, which excludes Hamas, and create a security system between Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
The new government will handle affairs in those Palestinian territories, while the PLO will oversee peace talks with Israel, at a standstill since September because of the issue of illegal settlements.
Eleven Palestinian factions were united today in Cairo to document Palestinian national reconciliation and agreement reached by the groups Fatah and Hamas on 27 April, Palestinian officials said. In the presence of Egyptian officials, other factions signed this document, a day before the ceremony of signing the agreement to be held in Cairo.
An official of the leftist People's Party, Walid al-Awad, told reporters that the eleven factions separately initialed the agreement on reconciliation. "Today, all factions, including Fatah and Hamas have signed the agreement," said Al Awad, who noted that tomorrow will take place "the official celebration to announce the agreement." The preparation of this document back to the beginning of negotiations for reconciliation, which were interrupted in 2009 when Fatah signed the agreement prepared by Egypt and Hamas rejected it saying that arrangements had been made at the last minute without your consent.
The leaders of Palestinian factions eleven today initialed the text came on the eve of the Egyptian capital to participate in the celebration tomorrow. These factions, both from the Gaza Strip and West Bank, including leftist parties, Islamic Jihad as well as independent figures. Cairo is also the head of the Hamas political bureau, Khaled Meshal, who arrived in the Egyptian capital on Sunday, while awaiting the arrival today of President of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), Mahumd Abbas.
Hamas came into contact with the various factions in Damascus and Gaza to join the agreement. Is scheduled today to find a Hamas delegation headed by Khaled Meshal, the president of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), Mahumd Abbas, to finalize details. The pact provides for the formation of a provisional government composed of technocrats and the holding of elections within a year.
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