Azerbaijan, Baku, Oct. 8 / Trend , U.Sadikhova/
Charges within the Palestinian Authority and some political parties against President Mahmoud Abbas on repealing the vote on the report by Richard Goldstone about war crimes in the Gaza Strip will not affect the upcoming national reconciliation agreement between Fatah and Hamas, said Nabil Shaath, head of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) in negotiations on national reconciliation of the Palestinian factions.
"These days were very difficult, because initially Hamas condemned the report by Goldstone, but when the problems arouse with President Abbas, it immediately tried to blame him," a member of the central committee of Fatah, Shaath said to Trend over telephone from Cairo. "Yet the Egyptian side has informed us [PNA], it will not have any impact on signing of an agreement on national reconciliation between the Palestinian factions."
Differences within the Palestinian National Authority have arisen after the Arab media reported Abbas's order to cancel the vote on Goldstone's report in the UN, accusing the Israeli army and Hamas militants of committing war crimes in the Gaza Strip during the Cast Lead military operation in late December 2008 - early January 2009.
According to Shaath, if the consultations in the UN Security Council on Wednesday do not yield any result, some countries plan to convene a special meeting of the UN General Assembly, where the Palestinian Authority intends to achieve success.
Regarding the forthcoming agreement on national reconciliation of the Palestinian factions mediated by Egypt, Shaath said that on Oct. 24, all parties of the negotiations must meet in Cairo, and the 26th document will be signed on the Palestinian national reconciliation.
However, although Egypt's initiative on the Fatah-Hamas agreement was approved by both parties, the issue of placement of joint security forces in the Gaza Strip remains unresolved, said Shaath.
Despite six rounds of the talks between Fatah and Hamas that have passed through Egypt, the Palestinian parties are still unable to reach an agreement.
The differences of the two Palestinian factions began in the summer of 2007 after armed clashes between Fatah and Hamas, as well as arrests in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
Members of the Hamas security forces were able to drive Fatah out of Gaza and gained upper hand over the enclave. After the Cast Lead Israeli military operation in Gaza, which began in December last year and lasted 22 days, the Arab countries, particularly Egypt, called on Palestinian factions to the negotiating table in order to create a unified Palestinian national government.
Earlier Shaath said that the main issue for Fatah in reconciliation with Hamas is to determine the exact date of elections to the legislature-parliament and the president of the Palestinian Authority in 2010.
"Now the election is the most important issue in the national reconciliation of the Palestinians," Shaath said to Trend . "We agreed to postpone them for a few months [due to negotiations with Hamas], but now the main thing is to appoint an exact date for the election."
According to Shaath, the national administration is ready to hold presidential elections and elections to the parliament on Jan. 24, but if necessary, the date may be postponed to March and even April 2010.
Do you have any feedback? Contact our journalist at trend@trend.az
Do you have any feedback? Contact our journalist at agency@trend.az
