Leftist Palestinian group to continue efforts to bridge the gap, Hamas and Fatah trade accusations

Monday June 30, 2008 12:02 by Ghassan Bannoura - IMEMC News

Saleh Zidan, a member of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine DFLP, stated on Monday the meeting that was conducted with the Fatah movement over the weekend regarding the internal Palestinian unity was productive and positive.

PA officer - Photo by IMEMC Ghassan Bannoura - File 2008

He added that on Monday a meeting will take place with Hamas officials over the same issue.

Zidan said that so far the DFLP has managed to obtain lists of political prisoners being held by Hamas and Fatah, he clarified by adding that Fatah has handed over at least 54 of the Hamas members being held by the Fatah affiliated forces, while Hamas has handed over a least of 46 of the names.

The DFLP and other Palestinian leftist groups have been doing extensive efforts to bridge the gap between the two rival factions Fatah and Hamas.

Hamas took total control of Gaza on June 2007, after several months of bloody infighting with the rival Fatah Movement headed by the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Abbas fired the elected Hamas government and formed the Fatah affiliated care taker government based in the West Bank, Hamas continued to rule the Gaza Strip.

Since the violent clash between Hamas and Fatah ended, both movements’ security forces have targeted activists of both movements.

In recent developments the Hamas police in Gaza arrested on Sunday the Gaza spokesman of the Al Aqsa brigades- the armed wing of Fatah, Abu Qusay. The brigades in the West Bank issued a statement saying that they will target Hamas fighters in the West Bank if Abu Qusay is not released by Monday midday.

Hamas says that those arrested by the police in Gaza are being held on the basis of criminal charges; the movement ministry on interior announced that soon a list of those names and why will be released to the media. Hamas and Fatah traded accusations of using torture while interrogating activists.

The British Sunday Times reported over the week end that the Fatah forces in the West Bank have used torture against Hamas activists.

Based on interviews made last by The Sunday Times with victims in the West Bank, ruled by the western-backed President Mahmoud Abbas, the news paper reported that Palestinian security forces use methods of torture including hanging prisoners by their feet and putting them in “stress” positions for hours at a time.

The Sunday Times added that those Prisoners, who are mainly, linked to Hamas, many of whom have never been charged with any offense or even seen a lawyer.

The victims have reported to being subjected to mock executions, kicked, punched and beaten with sticks, plastic pipes and hoses. Earlier in June the Human Rights Watch, a human rights organization based in the United States, issued a report calling for Donor countries to press Palestinian Security Forces to end abuse.

The report came at the end the Berlin conference of which 40 donor nations, including Britain, pledged 121Milion British Pounds over the next three years to bolster the Palestinian security forces and judicial system in the West Bank. Of this total, about 2.7 Million will be spent on the training of Abbas’ security forces this year.

palestine | internal unrest | news report ghassanb at imemc dot org