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Hamas rejects sharing Gaza forces with Fatah

Israel Materials 27 May 2009 14:52 (UTC +04:00)

Islamic Hamas movement on Wednesday rejected sharing security forces in Gaza Strip with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah party, Xinhua reported.
  
Fawzi Barhoum, a spokesman for Hamas, said this decision has been handed to Egyptian mediators Wednesday as part of the Islamic movement's vision concerning a number of outstanding issues in the national reconciliation dialogue.
  
"The principle of common forces is not accepted," Barhoum said, stressing that the security services in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip and the Palestinian Authority's forces in West Bank should be overhauled "according to national and professional basis."
  
Hamas routed pro-Abbas forces and seized Gaza Strip in 2007. As a result, Israel and Egypt maintained the closure of their borders with the coastal enclave.
  
According to Barhoum, Hamas can only accept the common forces on Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt since a 2005 U.S.- brokered protocol says the border crossing can not open without the presence of Abbas's forces and European Union monitors.
  
In a written response, Hamas also handed to the Egyptians its vision for the elections and the unity government which the factions try to form in Cairo-hosted dialogue.
  
This response was a repetition of the Islamic movement's previous stance which demand that the elections be held according to a mixed system comprising the proportional and the constituencies' representation.
  
As for the unity government, Barhoum said the factions may resume the talks next month to discuss this issue as the trend was to rule out an Egyptian proposal saying that Hamas keeps its administration in Gaza and Fatah keeps ruling the West Bank until new elections are held in January 2010.

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