Hamas: No unity without release of prisoners
Date: 26 / 06 / 2009 Time: 17:23
www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=38825

Gaza - Ma'an - A sixth round of internal Palestinian unity talks will begin
on Sunday with bilateral meetings between Hamas and Fatah in Cairo sponsored
by Egypt, Hamas confirmed Friday.

The meetings will focus on the issue of politically-motivated detentions and
ways of handling the file, said Hamas spokesperson, Fawzi Barhoum, "because
all other issues related to dialogue and security, government and elections
are linked to closing the file on political arrests in the West Bank."

The weeks leading up to the talks have been filled with what appear to be
frenzied arrest and public relations campaigns of tit-for-tat arrests and
allegations. Hamas has alleged that PA forces in the West Bank have arrested
more than 150 members in the last week alone, and on Friday Fatah members in
Gaza published an extensive report detailing arrests, detentions, home
invasions and harassment directed at party members in the Strip by de facto
government forces.

Barhoum noted that any agreement between the sides would depend on the
release of all Hamas prisoners in the West Bank. He noted that during the
first session of unity talks Hamas presented Fatah with a list of 350
political prisoners who must be released before conciliation went through,
and said "the list has now grown to 950."

He said he feared there was a PA arrest campaign that was designed to move
in parallel with the talks.