Egypt, Turkey call for Palestinian reconciliation
ISTANBUL: The leaders of Egypt and Turkey said Wednesday that
reconciliation between the two main Palestinian groups was crucial to
establish a lasting truce in Gaza after Israel’s deadly operation.
“Israel’s attack would have been out of the question if there were no
divisions and disagreements among the Palestinians,” Egyptian President
Hosni Mubarak told a new conference after talks with his Turkish
counterpart Abdullah Gul.
“I underlined (to Gul) the importance we attribute to national
Palestinian reconciliation because the interests of the Palestinian
people are above reconciliation between the groups,” he said, through a
translator.
Egypt has stepped up contacts with envoys from Israel and the
Islamist movement Hamas running Gaza, seeking a durable truce.
Both sides called separate ceasefires on January 18, following
Israel’s 22-day offensive on Gaza which killed around 1,330
Palestinians.
But progress towards a permanent ceasefire has been slow despite
repeated announcements of imminent success.
The Egyptian truce plan also calls for Hamas and Palestinian leader
Mahmud Abbas’s Fatah movement to reconcile and form a government that
would be acceptable to the international community.
But the two movements have been deeply divided since Hamas wrested
control of Gaza from Fatah in 2007, a rift that has widened since the
Israeli offensive.
Hamas has also called for an alternative to the Palestinian
Liberation Organisation (PLO) — recognised internationally as the sole
representative of the Palestinian cause since 1974 — that would include
itself and the radical Islamic Jihad group.
Mubarak said the PLO — in which Fatah is the most powerful member —
must be maintained.
“This organization is the only legitimate representative of the
Palestinian people,” he said.
Gul meanwhile said Turkey would continue to support Egypt’s efforts
to establish a permanent truce in Gaza and help reconcile Palestinians.
“It is vital to have unity among Palestinians and Arabs,” he said,
with a new government coming to power in Israel following elections and
a new administration in Washington.
Thursday, AFP
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