Hamas spokesman: PLO is no longer representative of the Palestinian people.

Thursday March 20, 2008 21:34 by Rami Almeghari - IMEMC & Agencies

Spokesman of the ruling Hamas in Gaza, Sami Abu Zuhri, stated on Thursday that his party is still considering the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), not to be the representative of the Palestinian people.

Hamas's spokesman, Sami Abu Zuhri

Abu Zuhri's remarks come while a PLO delegation is supposed to hold talks with a Hamas seniors in the Yemeni capital of San'a, over a new unity government deal after the collapse of the 2007's Mecca deal, which brought to surface the first ever Fatah-Hamas unity government.

Hamas's remarks also came after Azzam aL-Ahmad, head of the Fatah party's parliamentary bloc, revealed that the Palestinian presidency will urge the Arab states summit, due to be held soon in Damascus, to reaffirm legitimacy of the PLO as the sole representative of the Palestinian people.

Over the past four decades, the PLO has been the mouthpiece of the Palestinian people worldwide, until the 2006's parliamentary elections brought to power the Islamist Hamas party.

In February 2007, PLO's major secular party, Fatah, formed jointly with the Islamist Hamas the first unity government, ending a power struggle. Four months later, infighting broke out again, leading to Hamas's take over of the Gaza Strip.

The PLO, headed by President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah, recognized Israel in 1993, a thing Hamas has ever rejected to echo, despite Israeli and international economic blockade of the Gaza Strip, where Abbas is no longer holding a sway.

gaza strip | palestinian politics | news report rami at imemc dot org