PLC Speaker: Hamas Will SignThe Egyptian Document By End of November

Thursday November 12, 2009 03:23 by Ghassan Bannoura - IMEMC News & Agencies

Speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council, Dr. Aziz Dweik, of Hamas told Media that his movement will sign the Egyptian document for internal Palestinian conciliation.

PLC speaker Dr. Aziz Dwoik - file 2008

Dr. Dweik said that his movement had received assurances from Cairo that Hamas' reservations on the document will be taken into consideration. He refused to announce what those reservations are, but said that the Palestinians will have good news by the end of November.

Hamas and the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah party have been at odds since Hamas won the parliamentary elections on January 2006.

After several rounds of bloody infighting between the two largest Palestinian factions, Hamas controlled the Gaza Strip while Fatah controlled the West Bank.

Hamas' refusal to the paper last month prompted Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to declare elections for January 24, 2010 and to blame Hamas for blocking a unity government deal. Hamas announced that any elections must not happen before a deal is reached.

When asked whether he will take the President responsibilities if Abbas resigns, Dr. Dweik said that according to the Palestinian Law, he must take this responsibility should Abbas resign, and that should that happen, he will declare elections in 60 days as the Palestinian law states. The Hamas official hoped that Abbas will not resign from his post.

In a televised speech last week , President Abbas stated that would not run for next year's elections due to the stalemate in the peace process.

ramallah | palestinian politics | news report ghassan at imemc dot org