Wednesday 20 October 2010

Fatah declines Hamas invitation to hold reconciliation talks in Gaza


[ 20/10/2010 - 01:06 PM ]

GAZA, (PIC)-- Senior Hamas official Dr. Salah Al Bardawil said Fatah refused Hamas’s proposal to hold a meeting aimed at achieving Palestinian reconciliation in the Gaza Strip.

The meeting was initially scheduled to be held in the Syrian capital of Damascus at the recommendation of the Fatah movement.

Bardawil said in a press release Wednesday that Hamas made several contacts with Fatah to bypass disputes over the meeting’s venue, noting that Fatah’s request to change the venue of the conference from Damascus may have been “a kind of extortion”.


He added that Fatah’s request could be an attempt to hamper significantly progressing efforts towards reconciliation realized in recent talks. The movement has put forth no reasonable grounds for its position.

Bardawil expressed hope that parties would soon bypass the conflict and go into serious discussions that would lead to agreement to end internal division.

Officials from the Hamas and Fatah movements announced earlier that meetings to discuss Palestinian reconciliation scheduled to start Wednesday in Damascus would be delayed.

Both groups announced after a meeting in Damascus last month agreement on several issues relating to reconciliation.
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