Hamas asks Egypt to extend unity deal deadline

Fri Oct 16, 2009

The Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, has called on Cairo to extend the deadline for a reconciliation deal with its rival party Fatah.

“Hamas is interested in continuing dialogue both internally and with other factions in order to choose the best time and atmosphere to sign a reconciliation agreement. Soon after the consultations are concluded Hamas will submit its official opinion to the Egyptians,” Hamas spokesman Ismail Radwan said, Ma'an News Agency reported.

The senior political leader accused Fatah of turning a blind eye to the real issues over its refusal to endorse the United Nations' 575-page report by former South African Judge Richard Goldstone.

The Goldstone report accuses Israel of committing war crimes as well as crimes against humanity during the weeks-long onslaught on the Gaza Strip.

Egypt has been struggling for months to get the opponent Palestinian factions, Hamas and Fatah, to sign a reconciliation deal. The latest Cairo proposal aims to lay the groundwork for new presidential and legislative elections next summer.

Since Hamas won the Palestinian legislative elections with an outright majority in 2006, the two factions have pursued bitter rivalry featuring sporadic fighting and tit-for-tat arrests. Mutual hostility boiled over in the summer of 2007, when Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip.

Since then, Hamas has governed the Gaza Strip, while Fatah has continued to control the West Bank from Ramallah. Further complicating the situation, Israel and Egypt — with the Palestinian Authority's blessings — have both sealed their borders with the Gaza Strip, effectively cutting off the coastal enclave from the rest of the world.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://edition.presstv.ir/detail/108832.html.