Palestinian factions to hold reconciliation talks in Cairo

"Egypt has informed (Palestinian) president (Mahmud) Abbas and the factions that it will launch a dialogue on February 25 with all Palestinian groups," Azzam al-Ahmed, the head of the Fatah parliamentary bloc, told AFP.  Â

 

He added that five commissions would be created to look into the main points of conflict between the two main Palestinian factions, including reforming the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the security forces.

 

Hamas confirmed that it had received an "official invitation" from Egypt.

 

"We hope the dialogue will be successful," spokesman Fawzi Barhum said. "The dialogue is in the national interest of putting an end to the internal division," AFP quoted him as saying.

 

The two groups have been bitterly divided since Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip in June 2007 after driving out Abbas’s forces, effectively confining the Western-backed leader’s authority to the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

 

The Egyptian-brokered talks were originally going to be held Sunday, but Cairo officials said more preparatory discussions were required.

 

The talks are part of an Egyptian-proposed plan for a lasting truce following Israel’s massive three-week offensive against the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip that killed more than 1,300 Palestinians.

 

Hamas beat Fatah in parliamentary elections in January 2006, but its government was boycotted by Israel and much of the international community because the Islamists would not recognize Israel or renounce violence.

 

Egypt last tried to reconcile Palestinian factions in November, with the aim of forming a government of national unity acceptable to the international community.

 

But the Islamists withdrew from those talks at the last minute, saying Fatah forces were continuing to arrest Hamas members in the West Bank.

HAMAS LETTER TO OBAMA

A Hamas official on Saturday disclosed the contents of a letter he wrote to President Obama on behalf of the internationally shunned militant group that rules the Gaza Strip, AP reported.

 

Ahmed Yousef, a Hamas government official, said that in the letter, he called on Obama "to deal in a fair way with the Palestinian issue." Many Palestinians believe that U.S. foreign policy is biased in Israel’s favor.

 

The letter was given to U.N. officials who passed it to U.S. Sen. John Kerry during a visit to Gaza on Thursday.

 

Kerry’s foray into Gaza marked the highest-level visit by a U.S. politician since Hamas seized power of Gaza in 2007. Kerry did not meet with Hamas officials.

 

Obama has said he wants to reach out to Muslims everywhere, but its not clear whether hell change U.S. policy toward Hamas.

 

Yousef said that when Hamas learned of Kerry’s visit to Gaza, he swiftly penned the letter.

 

"We tried to seize the opportunity, and that led us to quickly write a letter to President Obama, to be passed to his hands," Yousef told The Associated Press.

 

He spoke a day after Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum denied that Hamas sent the letter. However, Yousef said Saturday that the letter was endorsed by the Hamas government.

 

Yousef said he also asked Obama to be open toward the militant group, which is considered a terrorist group by the U.S. and most of the international community.

 

"We also spoke about the need for the U.S. administration to be open with Hamas, which enjoys broad support in the Palestinian street," he said.