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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| Fayyad proposes unity govt with Hamas |
| 2011-02-23 |
| [Ma'an] Paleostinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad has proposed forming a unity government with Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason,, under which the Islamist group would have responsibility for security in Gazoo. Speaking to Paleostinian journalists late Monday, Fayyad said the "security concept" applied by Hamas in Gazoo, where the group has sought to enforce a ceasefire with Israel, could provide common ground. "The security concept practiced by Hamas in the Gazoo Strip should be brought under an official framework because it is not different from what is practiced by the Paleostinian Authority in the West Bank," Fayyad said. "After a national unity government is formed, it can take on the task of supervising a security agreement based on the institutions in place in the West Bank and Gazoo." "The compatibility between the policy adopted by the Paleostinian leadership and that applied by Hamas on the ground in Gazoo... opens the way for a national unity government to immediately manage affairs of state," he added. Fayyad's proposal, which comes as he seeks to form a new government, would not vastly change the situation on the ground in Gazoo or the West Bank. But it could pave the way for reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas. Longtime bitter rivals, the tensions between the two groups boiled over in 2007, a year after Hamas won legislative elections. Bloody festivities between the two saw Hamas oust Fatah from the Gazoo Strip and take control. The West Bank, which is under the control of President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party, has been effectively cut off from the Gazoo Strip ever since. Repeated attempts at reconciliation between the groups have led nowhere, and the collapse of the Egyptian regime of Hosni Mubarak, which played a key role in reconciliation efforts, has created new uncertainty. The issue of control of the security forces has been a key stumbling block in each round of reconciliation talks, with both sides refusing to cede authority over their security apparatus. Hamas responded to the latest calls for unity with suspicion. "These declarations lack seriousness and credibility, they make no sense in light of the continued arrests and torture [of Hamas members] in Fatah prisons in the West Bank," Hamas front man Sami Abu Zuhri said on Monday. "The only real way towards reconciliation is to stop the arrests, free the detainees and allow the movement's charities to start helping the Paleostinian people again," he told AFP. Hamas and Fatah have carried out periodic arrests of each other's members, often holding detainees without charge or trial and routinely trading allegations of prisoner abuse. "The formation of a national unity government can only be achieved in the context of an all-encompassing national solution and not a partial one," Abu Zuhri said, referring to calls for the establishment of a coalition which would rule until parliamentary elections can be held at some point before September. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 Making official the status quo. After which Hamas can officially prevent meaningful negotiations with Israel, instead of merely effectively preventing them. Still, it's good to have the situation regularized. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2011-02-23 12:26 |