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Last update - 17:20 25/11/2008
Abbas aide: Palestinian elections will be in April whether Hamas agrees or not
By Reuters

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Hamas, which seized the Gaza Strip last year after routing Fatah forces loyal to Abbas, opposes holding a parliamentary election in 2009. It could lose support owing to worsening economic conditions in Gaza.

Speaking to reporters in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Tuesday, Abbas said: "They (Hamas) have to understand that at the end of the day there will be elections."

But the Islamist group insists Abbas' term must end on January 9 and has said that it will not recognize his legitimacy after that date. Abbas says his terms ends in 2010.

Abed Rabbo said Abbas' call for elections was designed to pre-empt attempts by Hamas to delegitimize Abbas and the Palestine Liberation Organisation, which he heads.

He said the call also amounted to a "deadline" for Hamas to resume Arab-sponsored unity talks with Fatah.

Arab League foreign ministers will meet on Wednesday to discuss Egypt's efforts to revive talks aimed at healing the rift between the rival factions. A unity summit collapsed early this month after Hamas boycotted the meeting. The group cited Abbas' refusal to free some 400 Hamas activists he had jailed.

Western diplomats said Israel and the United States fear a new parliamentary election could end with another Hamas victory.

Writing in the Palestinian daily al-Ayyam, columnist Hani Masri said the lack of consensus among Palestinians over the elections risked deepening the political divide.

"Elections without national consensus ... will deepen both the schism as well as the phenomenon of two authorities, one in the West Bank and the other in Gaza, each with a separate president, legislative body and government," Masri wrote.

Hamas won a parliamentary election in 2006.

The group has been shunned by Western powers over its refusal to renounce violence and accept interim peace agreements with Israel.

Abbas sacked the Hamas-led government last year and appointed a new government in the West Bank where Fatah holds sway.

Hamas opposes Abbas' peace talks with Israel. Launched by Washington a year ago, the talks have shown little sign of progress and all sides have admitted that a deadline for a deal by the end of the year will not be met.
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