Hamas, Fatah pledge fresh proposals on eve of Cairo talks

Apr 25, 2009, 9:18 GMT

Gaza - Officials from the rival Hamas and Fatah movements on Saturday pledged to put fresh proposals on the table on the eve of new round of inter-Palestinian talks in Cairo.

'Hamas's delegation bears new ideas and various options to make the Palestinian dialogue successful,' said Mushir al-Massri, a Hamas lawmaker based in Gaza.

'We are going to the dialogue with open minds and with positivity and we hope to find a similar approach from Fatah,' al-Massri added.

The dialogue will try to wrap up outstanding issues, including the two factions' failure to agree on a political program for a unity government to negotiate with Israel.

The two factions will also discuss differences over electoral law and the representation system for the elections they agreed to hold by January 2010.

Al-Massri said he hopes that 'Fatah would free itself from the Zionist and U.S. orders and conditions which block the way of the dialogue.'

A unity government is being sought to tie together the Hamas- controlled Gaza Strip and the Fatah-ruled West Bank. In June 2007, Hamas routed security forces of president Mahmoud Abbas and ousted his Fatah movement in deadly fighting in Gaza.

A Fatah official rejected Hamas's claims that his movement bends to US and Israeli pressure over the issue of reconciliation with Hamas.

'There are clear instructions from the higher leadership of Fatah that the dialogue must succeed as a high interest for the people,' said Amin Maqboul, a Fatah official in West Bank.

He added that Fatah had relented on various of its criteria for talks.