Hamas, Fatah talk on unity Govt

EGYPT: Rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah were set to hold talks here Monday on forming a unity government after reportedly reaching agreement the day before on creating a joint security force in Gaza.

"There has been agreement in principle on the formation of a common force from the two factions to work in the Gaza Strip until the elections (which should be held) before next January 5," senior Fatah official Nabil Shaath was quoted as saying by the official Egyptian news agency MENA following talks on Sunday.

Shaath said the exact composition of the force had still to be decided, but that the two sides hope to announce a definitive reconciliation deal at the start of July.

There was no immediate confirmation from Hamas.

Agreement on a joint Gaza force, if confirmed, would represent a major breakthrough in months of talks and could see a Fatah presence back in the Palestinian territory for the first time since Hamas ousted them in 2007.

Delegations from Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas's Fatah party and the Islamist Hamas movement that controls Gaza are meeting in Cairo for a fifth round of unity talks under Egyptian mediation.

The two groups have been bitterly divided since Hamas seized control of Gaza in June 2007 after ousting Fatah forces loyal to Abbas.

Egyptian efforts to reconcile them have so far foundered amid disagreements on the composition and obligations of a proposed unity government.

Shaath, a member of the Fatah delegation at the Cairo reconciliation talks, explained that five committees charged with security, government, elections, the Palestine Liberation Organisation, and lastly reconciliation would meet in seven weeks' time.

These meetings would be held "in the presence of all Palestinian factions to discuss the definitive vision of the (reconciliation) agreement," to be signed two days later, Shaath said.

As soon as the accord has been announced, a force of Egyptian and Arab officers would be sent to Gaza to monitor its implementation and to help train and prepare the new security service, he said.

This fifth set of talks between Hamas and Fatah officials was set to continue on Monday to discuss questions related to a unity government, the electoral system and security, he added.

The key stumbling block in the past has been Hamas's refusal to accept past peace deals with Israel signed by Abbas and the Palestinian leadership.

Abbas has said that if the parties manage to form a unity government, that cabinet will have to abide by past agreements.

Reconciliation between the rival factions is vital for the reconstruction of Gaza after Israel's devastating offensive at the turn of the year as aid pledges from international donors are conditional on the money passing through Abbas's Palestinian Authority.

There has been mounting pressure on the Palestinians to overcome their differences.

On Friday, the presidents of Turkey and Syria said it was essential for a comprehensive peace settlement.

"Palestinian reconciliation lies at the heart of any settlement in the region," Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said.

"Without a united Palestinian position, there will be no peace on the Palestinian track, no two-state solution and no return of occupied land," added the Syrian president who held talks with Abbas on Thursday.

AFP