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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| Hamas skeptical of fair national election |
| 2009-08-15 |
| [Iran Press TV Latest] Hamas has expressed doubts on the viability of a national election in Palestine as allegations of electoral fraud continue to haunt rival Fatah party. Democratically-elected Prime Minister Ismail Haniya referred to the accusations of fraud shrouding Fatah's party elections, calling for free and fair polls, and a healthy atmosphere before Palestinians go to the ballot boxes. Speaking during weekly Friday prayers in Gaza City, Haniya dismissed allegations by those who accuse him of blackmail or intentional corruption of the Sixth Fatah Congress in Bethlehem. "We allowed all members of the Fatah conference to participate in voting without interference," he stressed. He said a ban on Fatah members in Gaza from attending the Bethlehem conference was a moral position in support of the Hamas sympathizers in West Bank prisons rather than the success or failure of the event. Haniya highlighted the need for real unity talks between all Palestinian factions, but warned that other parties should not use dialogue as a means to slide the nation back into the pre-2006 elections status quo. The leader rejected the 'poisonous' two-state peace proposal -- backed by the United States -- as a 'way of death and destruction', vowing to stand against the Israeli-proposed 'semi-state Palestine' for violating the Palestinian efforts to restore their right. Haniya denied Israeli media reports which speak of foreign militants and extremists infiltrating into the Gaza Strip, assuring "there are no such groups in Gaza." |
| Posted by:Fred |