GAZA CITY, 11 October 2006 — The Qatari mediation efforts to narrow gabs between the Palestinian presidency and the Hamas Islamic group in forming a national unity government have failed. The Hamas-led government confirmed that it did not agree with Qatar on two points of its six-article initiative to settle differences, “renouncing terrorism” and two-state solution were not agreed upon.
In a press conference held yesterday morning in Gaza City, the spokesman of the current government, Ghazi Hamad, said that the Hamas movement and the government have confirmed to the Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassem Al-Thani that they are sticking to the right of resistance against the occupation and there is difference between resistance and terror.
Hamad said that Hamas told the Qatari minister they accept a state on the lands of 1967 as presented in the National Accordance document. Yasser Abed Rabbo, a senior aide to President Mahmoud Abbas, said “the differences on the core issues have remained and in the light of tonight’s talks it does not seen as if we are closer to an agreement.” He told reporters that, “This initiative (the Qatari) is the last political effort that is being exerted and the now the alternative is to hold early elections.”
But Hamad, the Hamas-government spokesman, refused all the statements, which said that the talks with Qatari foreign minister failed and negotiations reached a deadlock, “the Qatari mediation is still ongoing and the minister is interested in promoting the idea of a national unity government.”
Hamad’s visit to Gaza comes at sensitive and tense time as Hamas and Fatah supporters battle each other on the streets that have resulted in the death of 15 people in the deadliest fighting over the past week. Also Nabil Amro, media adviser to Abbas, announced yesterday that the Qatari initiative has officially and formally failed, he told reporters in the West Bank city Ramallah.
Ghazi Hamad said his group has reservations about Qatar’s proposal for a new Palestinian national unity government that would recognize Israel’s right to exist. He also said his group is not ready to give up its armed struggle against Israel. “We differentiate between resistance and terrorism,” he said.
“The gap remains wide between Hamas and the international demands for forming a national unity government, and overcoming those obstacles will be difficult,” Abbas spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina had said during the night. Amid the stalled talks, Abbas’ entourage warned that the Palestinian leader could dissolve the present government and call early elections if the deadlock remained. Qatari mediation “is the last political proposition. If there is failure, the solution will be early elections,” said Yasser Abed Rabbo, a member of the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization.
