Last update - 00:00 30/10/2007
Islamic Jihad: Syria 'anti-summit' postponed until Annapolis date set
By Avi Issacharoff, Haaretz Correspondent, Haaretz Service and News Agencies
Islamic Jihad Deputy Secretary-General Ziad al-Nahla announced Tuesday the postponement of a conference planned by Palestinian organizations refusing to participate in the U.S.-led Mideast peace summit later this year.
According to al-Nahla, the Hamas-led meeting was postponed because it is aimed to coincide with the U.S.-led Annapolis summit planned for November or December, but for which no date has yet been set. The Damascus meet had been set for November 27.
Al-Nahla stressed that the postponement was in no way connected to pressure exerted by the Palestinian Authority on the groups not to hold the meet, despite a delegation of senior officials visiting Syria this week.
Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has said the "rejecting groups" conference will damage the Palestinian people by dividing them.
Leaders of the "rejecting groups" set to participate in the Damascus conference met this week in the Syrian capital to discuss what they call the "rejection summit". They also met with Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki during his recent visit to the country.
The U.S.-sponsored Mideast conference, set for November or December, is expected to relaunch negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Hamas overthrew its political rival Fatah in the Gaza Strip in June, with whom it had ruled the territory in a unity government with the Palestinian Authority. Since the overthrow, Hamas has become separated from the PA and does not recognize its dealings with Israel.
Many exiled Hamas and Islamic Jihad leaders are in Syria, along with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the PFLP-General Command and five other smaller factions.
Talal Naji, a top official with the Syria-based Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine General Command, said that a preparatory committee had rescheduled the Damascus gathering, initially planned for Nov. 7-9, to have it coincide with the Bush conference. He said this would make it "more effective".
Moussa Abu Marzouk, Hamas' Damascus-based deputy leader, acknowledged pressure was exerted by the United States and some Palestinian groups but rejected claims his group's conference was postponed as a result of it.
The postponement came as moderate Palestinian leaders on Tuesday criticized the Hamas-planned gathering.
In Cairo, Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas said he was not pleased that Hamas had called for the meeting. "We have issued statements against this meeting called for by Hamas because it divides the Palestinian people," Abbas said.
Abbas' envoy, who was in Damascus for talks with Syrian officials, said the Syria meeting was inappropriate. Naji said Youssef's visit had nothing to do with the postponement of the gathering, despite media reports and officials' statements in the West Bank city of Ramallah that Abbas was seeking Syrian intervention to prevent it.
Abu Marzouk said earlier this month that the purpose of the Damascus conference was to send a clear message to the international community and the United States that Abbas does not represent the Palestinian people in these negotiations.
Syria has warned that it will not take part in the U.S.-hosted conference unless it addresses Syrian demands for the return of Golan Heights, territory Israel occupied in the 1967 Mideast war.
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem on Monday repeated the Syrian stance. "If the Golan issue is not on the agenda of this meeting, then it is difficult for us to attend," he said.
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