By Nour Abuzant
Staff Reporter
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas yesterday said that Hamas was scuttling reconciliation efforts with Fatah “in a ploy to postpone the elections indefinitely”.
Talking to chief editors of local newspapers at the Sheraton Doha, the head of the Palestinian Authority said that the chiefs of Islamist movement (Hamas) would agree for elections only if victory was guaranteed “and that is not possible.”
“The nature of elections is that you may win once or twice but not necessarily always,” Abbas, also head of the Fatah movement, said.
He said that Hamas negotiators had kept asking for amendments at the last minute in an attempt to halt the reconciliation process. “Going through the whole gamut of things again means a delay of another two years and that is what Hamas wants,” he explained.
“We proved that the elections held in Palestine (in January 2006) were the most transparent in Arab history. When Hamas was declared the winner, I called the movement’s leaders immediately and asked them to form the government.”
Abbas said that he “welcomed” mediation by any Arab country to solve the standoff between the rival Palestinian movements but said that any deal should be signed in Egypt. “The national dialogue started in Egypt and must end there.”
Abbas, who was on a short visit to Doha, alleged that the Qatari media was biased against Fatah
and had been favouring Hamas.
He said that the Qatari newspapers “were not objective” in reporting the dispute between the two major Palestinian factions.
“Major Arabic media quoted rumours spread by the Israeli press and that is eventually shown as ultimate truth to the Arab readers.”
On the controversial steel wall that Egypt is building along its border with Gaza, Abbas said that Cairo had the “full right to protect its territory and prevent smuggling of illegal materials into Gaza. It is a sovereign and political decision of the Egyptian government and we understand that.”
Abbas said: “Let us discuss first the reasons for the Gaza siege. It is, in fact, the coup that Hamas staged (in July 2007) that created all the problems for Gaza’s residents.”
Abbas described his talks with HH the Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani as “intimate and warm”.
He said that he discussed with the Qatari leadership a project to supply drinking water to Gaza.
Abbas admitted that there were some differences of opinion between the Palestinian Authority and the Qatari leadership “but that would never reach a flashpoint.”
“I lived in Qatar when I was young and I have nice memories
of my stay in this country.”
Referring to the indirect negotiations for the release of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, he said he welcomed the release of any Palestinian prisoner, “even if Hamas took credit for it”.
“We in Fatah prefer to stay aside in this case and we hope all the best for Hamas,” Abbas said.
Gulf Times editor-in-chief Dr Marzook Basher Binmarzook attended the meeting.
Abbas and his accompanying delegation left Doha yesterday evening wrapping up their two-day state visit to the country. The Palestinian president was seen off upon departure at Doha International Airport by HE the Minister of State and head of the accompanying mission of honour Abdullah bin Khalifa al-Attiyah, Palestinian Ambassador to Qatar Muneer Abdullah Ghannam and the Palestinian embassy staff in Doha.
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