Initial reconciliation deal signed in Cairo
Published today (updated) 27/04/2011 19:46
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=382759

BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) -- Hamas and Fatah signed an initial reconciliation
agreement in Cairo on Wednesday, officials told Ma'an.

The deal is to form a caretaker government and set a date for elections. The
details will be made clear at a news conference in Cairo, said Ash-Shaqaqi,
the head of a delegation of independents pushing the deal.

Hamas leader Izzat Ar-Rishiq confirmed the signing of an initial agreement
with Fatah, according to a statement published by the Palestinian
Information Center, a Hamas-affiliated website. Ar-Rishiq said Cairo will
call all the Palestinian factions to sign the final reconciliation within
the week with the presence of Mahmud Abbas and Khaled Mashaal.

Fatah spokesman Azzam Al-Ahmad told the Al-Quds Voice radio in Gaza that the
agreement forms a technocratic government that represents all Palestinian
factions. He added that Egypt will invite all the factions in early May to
hear their notes and to sign the final deal.

Delegations from the rival Palestinian factions arrived in Cairo on
Wednesday to hold talks, Palestinian sources said. The teams were to meet
Egypt's new spy chief Murad Muwafi, whose predecessor Omar Suleiman tried
unsuccessfully to bridge a split that has left Gaza and the West Bank ruled
by rival administrations.

The delegation of the Islamist movement Hamas which rules the Gaza Strip
includes senior members from the territory and its Damascus-based deputy
leader, Mussa Abu Marzuk.

Egypt, which shares a border with Gaza, has tried to bring the two sides
together since Hamas defeated Fatah loyalists in week-long street battles
four years ago, reducing their power base to the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Nabil al-Arabi, Egypt's new foreign minister, has said he plans to visit
Ramallah, seat of Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas who heads
Fatah, to push for unity.

The factions were on the verge of agreeing a deal in 2009 that would have
led to a transitional government ahead of elections when Hamas pulled out,
saying the accord had been revised without its approval.

AFP contributed to this report.