Subscribe to Print Edition | Wed., March 26, 2008 Adar2 20, 5768 | | Israel Time: 02:14 (EST+7) web haaretz.com   Back to Homepage Rosner's Domain Diplomacy Defense Jewish World Opinion National Print Edition Advertising Books Arts & Leisure Business Real Estate Easy Start Travel Week's End Anglo File

Yemeni Foreign Minister Abubakr al-Qirbi talks to reporters in Sanaa on Saturday, after talks with delegations from Hamas and Fatah. (Reuters) Last update - 18:14 24/03/2008 Qureia: Fatah signed reconciliation draft with Hamas due to mixup By News Agencies Tags: Fatah, Hamas, Gaza, Israel Top Palestinian negotiator Ahmed Qureia on Monday said Fatah signed a proposal outlining a path to reconciliation with Hamas because of a mixup. Under the Yemeni plan, Fatah and Hamas agreed on the goal of uniting in a single Palestinian government. The proposal was signed Sunday by a representative from Hamas and by a senior Fatah official, former Palestinian Prime Minister Azzam al-Ahmed. Qureia, who heads the Palestinian team in the negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, on Monday suggested that al-Ahmed was hasty. He said al-Ahmed called before the signing to get guidance from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, but that Abbas was busy hosting U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney. Advertisement The senior Palestinian official added that there was a misunderstanding involved in the signing. Other Abbas aides say al-Ahmed should not have signed. Also Monday, an Israeli official that a reconciliation between rival Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas would mean an end to peace talks with the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority. "The Fatah leadership has to make a choice," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. "They can have a peace process and dialogue with Israel or a coalition with Hamas. But it's clear that you can't have them both. The two factions on Sunday signed a Yemeni-sponsored reconciliation deal, promising to revive direct talks after months of hostilities. In June last year, Hamas sezied power in the Gaza Strip after days of bllody fighting between the two sides. Earlier Sunday, the two factions reconvened in Sanaa in a last ditch effort to hammer out a compromise over the future of the Gaza Strip and West Bank. "We, the representatives of Fatah and Hamas, agree to the Yemeni initiative as a framework to resume dialogue between the two movements to return the Palestinian situation to what it was before the Gaza incidents," the Sanaa Declaration read. A senior Hamas official said on Sunday that the rival groups will hold the new direct talks on April 5, in accordance with the Yemeni initiative. The deal, which was signed by top Hamas negotiator Moussa Abu Marzouk and senior Fatah official Azzam al-Ahmed, also affirmed the "unity of the Palestinian people, territory and authority". The talks, launched last week by Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, had come close to collapse several times. Saleh had pressed the two sides to agree to hold direct talks in early April on the plan that calls for a return to the previous status quo in the Gaza Strip, before Hamas seized the area in June 2007 after routing Fatah forces. The issue of the future of Gaza has been a main point of contention, with Fatah demanding that Hamas Islamists give up control of the territory. A Hamas official said on Saturday the group asked that the same principle should apply to the West Bank, where the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority has dismissed a Hamas-led government and arrested some Hamas supporters. The Yemeni plan also envisages Palestinian elections, the creation of another unity government and the reform of Palestinian security forces along national rather than factional lines. Fatah had said it would agree to direct reconciliation talks with Hamas only if the Islamic group first agreed to relinquish its hold on Gaza, home to 1.5 million Palestinians. It was not immediately clear when talks would resume and at what level. Sunday's deal came after Senior Palestinian sources on Saturday denied reports of a breakthrough in reconciliation talks between Hamas and Fatah in Yemen's capital Sanaa. On Saturday, Yemeni Foreign Minister Abubakr al-Qirbi told reporters that Fatah had already agreed to the final version of a draft accord, and that Hamas had asked for time to consult their leadership. However, Hamas now seems to be delaying its response to the Yemeni demand that Hamas give up control of Gaza. Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said Saturday that Hamas had agreed only that the initiative could serve as a basis for talks and not as a precondition for immediate implementation. On Thursday, amid mutual recriminations, Fatah announced its people were leaving Yemen. However, both sides subsequently acceded to a request of Yemen's president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, to continue the talks through Saturday. Also on Saturday, Hamas and Islamic Jihad representatives met in El Arish with senior Egyptian security officials to discuss the gradual opening of the Rafah crossing. The parties discussed the release of 50 Hamas men being held by the Egyptians, following reports that the Egyptians tortured Hamas men taken into custody in Sinai. Related articles: Al-Qaida deputy calls for revenge attacks on Jews over Gaza violence Jerusalem official denies reported truce offer to Hamas, Jihad PA to launch welfare network in hopes of countering Hamas Fatah delegates to leave Yemen without Hamas deal Bookmark to del.icio.us   Love story Israel grants permission for gay Palestinian to join lover in Tel Aviv. Interfaith get-together Saudi King plans first interfaith conference to include Jews.   1.   They always agree to..yes...disagree. 22:43  |  Stephen. 23/03/08   2.   No,Hamas should not give up control of Gaza to the quislings and 01:09  |  lakshmi 24/03/08   3.   The Song Remains the Same 01:49  |  MaryRose 24/03/08   4.   Hamas in Trouble 02:57  |  Reid 24/03/08   5.   Where is the difference between Fatah and Hamas ? 08:27  |  Jean Van Daem 24/03/08   6.   Abbas can`t affort it! 09:49  |  Cynical 24/03/08   7.   How sweet 11:45  |  Paul 24/03/08   8.   Uncle Toms mustn`t develop a spine 12:05  |  Clickfool 24/03/08   9.   Just another excuse to avoid peace 12:21  |  Natallie Durson 24/03/08   10.   Israel opens up its Rolodex of excuses again 12:36  |  Tim 24/03/08   11.   Durson`s mirror 13:08  |  bobby 24/03/08   12.   Israeli admire seeing muslims killing eachother 13:29  |  Shery,muslima 24/03/08   13.   11bobby,wrong! israel wants the whole enchilada,Palestinians only 13:37  |  lakshmi 24/03/08   14.   Hamas and Fatah 13:47  |  knilles 24/03/08   15.   "Just a mixup" 15:00  |  Fortuna Benmayor 24/03/08   16.   to Tim#10 15:02  |  Ilya 24/03/08   17.   Clickfool 15:02  |  Ehud 24/03/08   18.   Iran quislings should be allowed to continue control of Gaza 15:27  |  Genuine Tosefta 24/03/08   19.   not forging peace with terrorists is a valid excuse 16:13  |  logic 24/03/08   20.   there should be reciprocality 18:13  |  Palestinian 24/03/08   21.   This Qureia is not only corrupt but an incomeptent! 18:14  |  lakshmi 24/03/08   22.   Oops! I just signed a peace agreement! 18:26  |  Aphemia 24/03/08   23.   typo 18:37  |  jake 24/03/08   24.   There will be peace 18:38  |  Clickdick 24/03/08   25.   Making good with Terrorists 18:41  |  Vik 24/03/08   26.   Yeah. We experience something similar 18:42  |  Colin Wright 24/03/08   27.   The agreement should have been written in English 18:45  |  Tosefta 24/03/08   28.   The agreement should have been written in English 18:47  |  Tosefta 24/03/08   29.   Mix Up 18:52  |  mary 24/03/08   30.   ABBAS FOLLOWING ARAFAT IN DECEPTIVE DIPLOMACY!!! 18:52  |  Ben Uziel 24/03/08   31.   Two years of fruitless conversations with Abbas has not proven 19:19  |  David Turner 24/03/08   32.   The marriage can`t be consummated...... 20:16  |  R 24/03/08   33.   Blood is thicker than Palestinian Ink,,,, Much Thicker 21:24  |  Proud Israeli 24/03/08   34.   Invisible Ink 21:28  |  Proud Israeli 24/03/08   35.   next it will be... 22:05  |  vik 24/03/08   36.   Please help me understand 22:09  |  Simon Mohammed 24/03/08   37.   Now That`s Competance Eh? 22:43  |  Jane 24/03/08   38.   both of them want our destruction: too late , we do exist as a st 22:47  |  goulov 24/03/08   39.   #12 Shery Muslima Cairo 23:41  |  * BEN JABO 24/03/08   40.   Colin Wright wrong as usual 00:05  |  Free Gilad Shalit 25/03/08   41.   A mishap or trying to pull the wool over our eyes?? 00:09  |  Free Gilad Shalit 25/03/08   42.   The philistian beast is a beast regardles of playing with words.. 00:11  |  misha 25/03/08   43.   Ahmed Qurai is mentally sick 00:25  |  El-Birawi 25/03/08   44.   They agree to disagree? NOT! 02:06  |  Jeff 25/03/08   45.   So, am I to understand the sequence is this... 02:20  |  Johnboy 25/03/08   46.   Colin Wright wrong as usual 03:16  |  Free Gilad Shalit 25/03/08   47.   Languages - Tosefta 03:22  |  Mark Lincoln 25/03/08   48.   Jane, it is an opportunity 03:48  |  Mark Lincoln 25/03/08   49.   its always a mistake when we do the right thing 17:00  |  fateh 25/03/08   50.   #48 Mark Lincoln to Jane 01:20  |  * BEN JABO 26/03/08

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