Hamas To Move HQ To Qatar
By Maan
Hamas will soon relocate its political headquarters to Qatar from Damascus, Palestinian sources told the Arabic-language newspaper Dar Al-Hayat in a report published Saturday.
The report, which could not be immediately confirmed, came days after the Palestinian faction and its rival Fatah agreed to sign a reconciliation deal that would reunite the occupied territories.
Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal will meet next week in Cairo with Palestinian Authority president and Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas to sign the agreement, a Fatah leader and other officials said Friday.
It will be the first time the two men have met since the Islamist movement Hamas — designed a terrorist organization by the US — seized control of the Gaza Strip in June 2007, ousting Fatah from the coastal territory after a week of bloody street battles.
America to assess aid in unity government formed
The US, meanwhile, is waiting to see if a new Palestinian government is formed before deciding on any changes to its aid policy, officials said Friday.
“The current Palestinian government remains in place and so our assistance programs continue,” State Department policy planning director Jacob Sullivan told reporters.
“If a new Palestinian government is formed, we’re going to have to assess it based on its policies at the time and determine, then, the implications for our assistance given US law,” Sullivan said.
Sullivan stressed any new Palestinian government would have accept the principles set down by the diplomatic Quartet of the US, UN, EU and Russia, in a so-called roadmap to peace.
Those three principles are: renouncing violence, accepting past agreements, and recognizing Israel’s right to exist, he said.
The deal, announced in Cairo on Wednesday, saw the secular Fatah party which dominates the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority and Gaza’s Islamist rulers agree to form a transitional government ahead of polls within a year.
“We support Palestinian reconciliation on terms that promote the cause of peace,” Sullivan stressed.
“In terms of this particular deal, the specifics of it, and how it will be implemented that’s something that we’re continuing to study.”
