CAIRO: Rival Palestinian groups adjourned their reconciliation talks in Egypt yesterday with no deal on the shape or agenda of an interim government that would oversee the rebuilding of Gaza and prepare for elections.
An Egyptian official told the state-run Middle East News Agency they would hold another round next week. The success of the Egyptian-sponsored dialogue is seen as crucial after 21 months of schism between Hamas and Fatah.
Failure to form a government would seriously damage any international efforts to rebuild homes, public buildings and infrastructure shattered by Israel’s war on Gaza, said Walid Al-Awad of the Palestinian People’s Party.
“In the event of failure, God forbid, there will be no talk of rebuilding Gaza or lifting the Israeli blockade,” he said.
Fatah and Hamas differ fundamentally on how to deal with Israel. Hamas believes in armed struggle, though it is willing to consider a truce, while President Mahmoud Abbas backs negotiations with the Jewish state.
The groups have agreed on the principle of forming a unity government and holding legislative and presidential elections by Jan. 25, 2010.
Wasil Abou Youssef, secretary-general of the Palestinian Liberation Front, said 10 days of talks had not proved enough for the participants to agree on whether the Cabinet should include political groups or be made up entirely of nonpartisan technocrats, as urged by Egypt and the West.
“There is no solution yet on the differences,” said Abou Youssef, whose group is part of the Fatah-dominated Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) which has represented the Palestinians since 1964.
Amr El-Choubaki, an Egyptian political analyst, said eventual failure to reach a deal on the government could be a “disaster” for the Palestinians. The rift turned nasty when Hamas evicted Fatah from Gaza in June 2007.
“They could lose everything. Unless there is a government with some degree of national consensus and able to be a partner in peace talks ... the Palestinian cause could be headed toward its end,” he added.
The West shunned a previous unity Cabinet led by Hamas after it won parliamentary elections in 2006, in what many Arabs see as an unfair punishment for the Palestinians’ democratic choice.
Participants at the Cairo talks have said one sticking point was whether the new government would be committed to previous peace deals signed between Israel and the PLO.
Abou Youssef said the groups also could not agree on an electoral law. Delegates said over the past two days that all participants except Hamas were in favor of holding elections based on proportional representation.
Another participant said the groups were awaiting the return of Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman from an official visit to Washington before resuming the talks. He said delegates would consult with their leaderships and return “in a few days.”
