No Saudi reconciliation initiative tabled, Hamas says

Wed, 20 Jan 2010

Hamas says it has not received a new Saudi initiative to end the internal divisions among Palestinians and to achieve national reconciliation.

In an exclusive interview with Press TV on Tuesday, a member of the Hamas Political Bureau, Ezzet al-Resheq, stated that the Islamic Resistance Movement has not been informed of any such initiative.

He said that no Saudi initiative on uniting the Palestinian factions has been tabled and added that Hamas has called on Arab states to be supportive of the Egyptian role in the reconciliation efforts, which have suffered several setbacks as a result of the inflexibility and intransigence exhibited by certain figures.

"Saudi Arabia, Syria, Qatar, and Kuwait, together with other Arab nations, are keen to see unity forged among Palestinian blocs, and Hamas has high hopes for the immediate realization of the Palestinian reconciliation process," al-Resheq said.

He added that Hamas seeks to unite the Palestinians and end the discord.

However, Fatah members are obstructing the path to unity, given that the terms of the latest agreement have been dictated by the United States and Israel, he noted.

Apparently, they have bullied acting Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas into procrastinating in the efforts to establish Palestinian unity and have threatened to cut off financial assistance to the Palestinian Authority if Fatah mends ties with Hamas, he said.

Al-Resheq stated that Hamas is eager to cut a prisoner swap deal with Israel, stressing that the Islamic Resistance Movement hopes to see captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit freed in exchange for long-serving Palestinian prisoners.

"Hamas has no interest in holding Shalit. The indirect talks with Israel on the prisoner swap are moving very slowly since Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman are placing hurdles on the path.”

But as long as the atmosphere isn't appropriate for the release of Palestinian prisoners, Shalit will continue to be held, the Hamas official said.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=116602§ionid=351020202.