Hamas Needs Three More Days To Respond To The Egyptian Initiative

Friday October 16, 2009 13:34 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies

Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, officially told Egypt that it needs two to three more days to study the Egyptian document for Palestinian National Unity before it responds to it.

Hamas was supposed to respond to the document on Thursday but it asked for more time for further discussions of the document among its ranks. Egypt initially gave Hamas 48 hours to respond to the document; the movement received the document on Monday, while Egypt asked the movement to respond within 48 hours. Hamas officials vowed to study the document carefully and demanded Egypt to delay the October 25 signing of the Palestinians internal unity agreement mediated by Cairo. The relations between Fateh and Hamas witnessed further deteriorations after Fateh leader, Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, called for delaying the UN vote on the Goldstone report. Fateh and Hamas traded accusations regarding the issue and regarding ‘the lack of seriousness regarding achieving unity’. Meanwhile, Mosheer Al Masry of Hamas said that his movement wants reconciliation and unity in order to maintain the Palestinian national interests. In an interview with the Qatar-based Al Jazeera, Al Masry accused the Palestinian President of not seeking reconciliation. Al Masry said that Hamas does not fear elections, and that it seeks unity among the Palestinian people. He added that Hamas wants a solid unity deal that is approved by all factions. “But unity cannot be achieved under political arrests”, Al Masry stated, “Fateh is not seeking unity, what we want is real unity based on partnership”.

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