Hamas Ends Internal Dispute Over Doha Deal

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Hamas officials met on Wednesday in Cairo and ended an internal dispute about the recent agreement signed in Doha, an official said.

Izzat al-Rishq said that the movement has agreed on the principles of the agreement signed between Hamas chief Khalid Mashaal and President Abbas in Qatar.

Mashaal met with Abbas and the Egyptian intelligence chief on Wednesday to discuss ways to implement the Doha agreement.

Senior Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayyah had said on Monday that the Islamist movement is committed to the Doha agreement, but disputed President Abbas’ dual role of prime minister.

The Islamist movement had said that the appointment of Abbas as both president and prime minister was illegal under Palestinian law.

Mahmoud al-Zahar, a senior Hamas figure in Gaza seen as a hardliner by Fatah, had previously described Mashaal’s agreement with Abbas as a “mistake”.

Zahar clashed with Mashaal late last year when the exiled leader advocated giving Abbas more time to pursue his peacemaking with Israel.

President Mahmoud Abbas is set to chair a meeting Thursday in Cairo that will encompass chiefs of Palestinian factions, PLO leaders and the speaker of the Palestinian National Council.

Participants will address the formation of a technocrat government to be headed by Abbas.

The Doha deal was aimed at reuniting the deeply split Palestinian national movement after past accords that followed Hamas’ takeover of the Gaza Strip in 2007 failed to get off the ground over disagreements over who would head a new government.

The accord is supposed to open the way for presidential and parliamentary election possibly later this year, and to rebuild the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip following a 2008-2009 Israeli offensive.

Maan

Launched in 2005, Ma'an News Agency (MNA) publishes news around the clock in Arabic and English, and is among the most browsed websites in the Palestinian territories, with over 3 million visits per month.

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