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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| Fatah agrees to release 400 Hamas members |
| 2009-08-03 |
| Palestine's Fatah faction proposes to free 400 Hamas prisoners, if Hamas allows free passage to its members in Gaza to attend the movement's general assembly. Acting Palestinian Authority chief and Fatah leader, Mahmoud Abbas, suggested on Sunday that should Hamas allow Fatah members in the Gaza strip to attend Tuesday's congress, Fatah would release 400 Hamas prisoners held in the West Bank, ISNA quoted a Fatah Central Committee member as saying. He however added that half of the prisoners would be released before the congress, while the other half would be set free after the meeting. This is whilst, the democratically-elected Hamas-led government in Gaza has stressed that it would let the Fatah members out of Gaza, only if the Ramallah-based group releases over 1,000 of its members held prisoner beforehand. It has also stressed that it would arrest and prosecute Fatah members who sneaked out to the West Bank through Israeli controlled borders. Only 70 Fatah members were able to leave Gaza, while the majority of more than 400 invitees were unable to head for the West Bank, as Hamas set up check points along roads leading to areas crossing point in northern Gaza Strip. Mahmoud Abbas has however vowed to hold the Fatah general assembly next Tuesday in the West Bank city of Bethlehem. The Fatah congress, which will convene on Tuesday for the first time in 20 years, is expected to be attended by some 2,000 delegates from around the globe. They will discuss issues such as Palestinian unity talks, prisoner swap with Hamas and peace talks with Israel. Hamas leaders have meanwhile threatened to boycott the coming round of reconciliation talks in Cairo, if the political arrests continue in the West Bank. The next round of Egyptian-brokered reconciliation talks is scheduled for Aug. 25 in Cairo. The meeting is part of efforts to secure a power-sharing deal ahead of presidential and parliamentary elections set for January. Differences between the two Palestinian factions reached its peak in June 2007 when Hamas forced out Fatah security forces from the Gaza Strip to "foil an attempted coup by some Fatah elements". Later, Abbas, in response, dismissed the Hamas government headed by Ismail Haniya who had come to power after winning the democratic elections in 2006 and appointed Salam Fayyad as the head of a new government in the West Bank. |
| Posted by:Fred |