Fatah rejects Qatar's 'suspicious' call for reconciliation talks
Qatar's call for Fatah-Hamas reconciliation talks is unnecessary because
there is already a timetable for negotiations, says Fatah leader
Ahram Online , Sunday 31 Mar 2013
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/8/68133/World/Region/Fatah-rejects-Qatars-suspicious-call-for-reconcili.aspx

A senior member of Palestinian movement Fatah described a Qatari call for
new reconciliation talks between Fatah and Hamas in Cairo as “suspicious and
unnecessary,” Egypt's state-run news agency MENA reported on Sunday. Hamas
has reportedly welcomed the offer of talks.

Azzam Al-Ahmed, a member of Fatah's central committee who is in charge of
reconciliation efforts at Fatah, said that the reconciliation process with
Hamas is moving forward through a "specified timetable."

"Too much discussion about this issue is a waste of time; we are very
optimistic about the reconciliation process as we are in constant contact
with Egyptian officials," Al-Ahmed said.

The Fatah leader said he expected that talks with Hamas over a national
government would take place at the same time as discussions over the
updating of the voter registration list.

"We might just need 24 hours for government talks; President Mahmoud Abbas
said before that he would issue two decrees, one calling for elections and
other on the formation of a new government," he said.

At their first meeting in almost a year, Abbas and Hamas leader Khaled
Meshaal agreed in January to revive a stalled reconciliation deal between
the rival Palestinian factions

On their visits to Cairo, Abbas and Meshaal both held separate talks with
Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi.

"Morsi promised to work towards lifting the Gaza blockade and helping
Palestinians out of their financial crisis, lobbying donors and our Arab
brothers," Al-Ahmed told AFP at the time of the meeting.

Yousef Rizq, political advisor to Hamas’s Ismail Haniya, prime minister of
Gaza, said Abbas wanted the election committee to end its work creating a
"consensus government" and move towards holding elections, so as to activate
the 2011 Egyptian-brokered reconciliation deal.

The two Palestinian leaders also agreed to allow Hamas a degree of
representation in the Palestine Liberation Organisation, which has
historically been led by Fatah.

The deal had been intended to pave the way for presidential and legislative
elections by May 2012, but disagreements over who would head up a
transitional government snarled implementation of the agreement.

In early 2012, Meshaal and Abbas signed a new deal in Doha, under which the
latter would head the interim government. But Hamas leaders in Gaza rejected
the arrangement, accusing Meshaal of taking decisions unilaterally.