Hamas discusses with Cairo postponing the reconciliation pact

Oct 10, 2009, 12:20 GMT

Gaza City/Cairo - A high-ranking Hamas delegate is in Cairo to discuss with senior Egyptian officials setting up a new date for signing a Palestinian reconciliation agreement, the group's spokesman said on Saturday.

'The delegation will meet with intelligence security chief Omar Suleiman to set up a new date for the upcoming last round of inter-dialogue that ends up with signing an agreement,' Sami Abu Zuhri, Gaza-based Hamas spokesman, told reporters.

The delegation is headed by Moussa Abu Marzooq, Hamas politburo deputy chief, and includes Hamas senior member Mohamed Nasser, Abu Zuhri added.

On Monday Egypt's Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit announced that a reconciliation agreement between the feuding Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas was to be signed in Cairo on October 25.

On Wednesday Hamas asked Egypt to postpone signing the pact with President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party, saying no deal would be cemented until he apologized for agreeing to delay a debate on a United Nation fact-finding report on Israel's Gaza offensive at the turn of the year.

The report, authored by South African Judge Richard Goldstone, alleges that Israel and the Islamist movement committed war crimes during the December-January offensive against Gaza-based group.

'The Hamas delegation will discuss with Suleiman and other Egyptian officials the effect of postponing the vote on Goldstone's report and its influence on the atmosphere of the reconciliation and its date,' said Abu Zuhri.

Abu Zuhri added that 'the period of postponement will be agreed upon with the Egyptian side, and the Palestinian Authority can also play a role in shortening this period.'

'The Palestinian Authority can shorten the term of postponing the signing of the reconciliation deal by correcting its mistakes in the position it took when it decided to postpone the voting at the UN on Goldstone report,' said Abu Zuhri.

He added that Hamas is 'certain that our Egyptian brothers understand our stance because the dialogue was disturbed by Fatah and we are just talking about setting up a new date.'

Hamas and its secular rival Fatah have be at odds since Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip in June 2007, and ousted security forces of Fatah leader Abbas.

Egyptian intelligence officials have been trying to broker an agreement between Hamas and Fatah, which controls Palestinian- administered areas of the West Bank since March.