ABBAS HAILS HANIYEH FOR DECISIONS ON RECONCILIATION

Ramallah, 5 Rabi’ul Awwal 1435/7 January 2014 (MINA) – Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has evaluated the decisions taken by Ismail Haniyeh in Gaza regarding national reconciliation. Speaking to Mr Haniyeh by phone, President Abbas hailed the prime minister and called the moves “a real contribution to the reconciliation.”

The two leaders discussed the mechanisms of bringing an end to the division between the occupied Palestinian territories of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the MEMO reported as cited by Mi’raj News Agency (MINA).

Prior to the phone conversation, Haniyeh announced several moves regarding the rival Fatah movement, paving the way for Palestinian reconciliation. He pardoned all Fatah members who fled the Gaza Strip in the wake of the clashes with Hamas in 2007 and said that Hamas will allow all Fatah parliamentarians to visit Gaza without any restriction.

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“We are doing this out of an understanding of the sensitive situation the Palestinian issue is in,” Haniyeh said, predicting that this would be the year Hamas-Fatah reconciliation finally happened. “These decisions are for the sake of implementing reconciliation and unification,” he said.

The Hamas government, Haniyeh insisted, is ready to do what is needed to facilitate the reconciliation process.

Previously, Hamas and Fatah have secretly resumed reconciliation talks in an attempt to finalize an agreement, a Fatah spokesman said on Monday.

Ahmad Assaf said in a statement received by Ma’an that Fatah official Azzam al-Ahmad, who is in charge of reconciliation talks, spoke on Sunday with his Hamas counterpart Mousa Abu Marzouq.

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The two followed up on discussions that began in Doha between al-Ahmad and Hamas chief-in-exile Khalid Mashaal.(T/P014/P03)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)