Update 17 March 20:00 GMT Factions extend calm The Palestinian Authority and Palestinian factions agreed on Thursday to maintain recent calm with Israel until the end of this year provided that Israel stops its "aggression" on the Palestinian people. "Based on the platform of 2005, we agree on maintaining the recent calm with Israel provided that Israel stops its aggression on the Palestinian people and lands and releases all prisoners and detainees," they said in a final statement. The statement, entitled "Cairo Declaration", was read by intelligence chief Omar Suleiman at the end of the meeting today. Dialogue and semantics Round three of the Palestinian factions' dialogue in Cairo did not yield ceasefire results but reflected unprecedented inter-Palestinian agreement, writes Amira Howeidy For the first time since the dialogue between Palestinian factions began in Cairo more than two years ago the talks' hosts have made a point of inviting the media to cover the opening and closing sessions of the dialogue which began on Tuesday and closed today. In previous rounds, whether bilateral or involving all 13 main factions, the location of the meetings had remained a closely guarded secret. That Egyptian intelligence not only disclosed the location this time -- in the 6th of October City -- but was positively eager to get full media coverage, despite the increased security measures this involved, suggests that the authorities are happy with the progress made in what has looked too often like a long and fruitless exercise. That Hamas and Jihad have maintained their commitment to February's cease-fire has contributed to the unusual level of openness though both groups emphasise the semantic distinction between committing to a " hudna " (cease-fire), which is a long-term commitment, and to a "calm" that is conditional upon Israeli reciprocation. (Such semantic nit-picking looks peculiarly out of place when the Israeli prime minister has announced his total rejection of the dialogue's results, whatever they are.) The dialogue follows Hamas's strategic decision to contest the July legislative elections which means that the Islamic resistance movement will soon be represented on the legislative council and thus the Palestinian Authority (PA). Hamas has also expressed willingness to join the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) -- an option it had in the past rejected, much to the relief of the late Palestinian president Yasser Arafat. At the time of going to press, the dialogue -- attended by senior figures including Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei, Hamas Politburo Chief Khaled Meshal, Egyptian Chief of Intelligence Omar Suleiman, Islamic Jihad Secretary-General Ramadan Shalah and leader of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) Nayef Hawatmeh -- was focussing on the "political" and "organisational" fronts. According to Hamas spokesman Mohamed Nazal the participants in the Wednesday morning session were agreed on the need for political reform, ie reform of the PLO, "because what exists now is more décor than a real institution". It has not yet been decided how the Islamic factions will be represented within the PLO though a consensus appears to be emerging that the July election results be adopted as the basis for representation within the organisation. While both Hamas and Abbas appear to agree that forces be joined beneath the umbrella of the PLO with the aim of promoting unity and generally getting the Palestinian house in order, the Islamic movement remains opposed to the PLO's national charter following its modification in 1996. It was then that the Palestinian National Council (PNC), which represents the 4.5 million-strong Palestinian Diaspora and on which Hamas soon expects to be itself represented -- omitted articles concerning Israel's right to exist and Palestinian Arabs' sole right to the land. "We have reservations about this illegally modified charter and would like to see some changes, though for the time being the National Charter remains the reference for Palestinians," said Nazal. While complex issues concerning the organisational and political aspects of the dialogue are unlikely to be resolved in three days of talks, the Palestinians say the generally optimistic mood is likely to result in a statement or communiqué at the end of the meeting. Previous rounds have ended without any statements being issued as Hamas and Jihad on the one hand, and Fatah on the other, failed to agree on a cease-fire formula and on whether or not the PA should be delegated to negotiate with Israel. Hamas is still contemplating a two-month extension of the "calm" rather than "cease-fire", said Nazal, an issue scheduled to have been discussed last night. If anything, the outcome of these talks was encoded in advance, said Fahd Suleiman, who heads the DFLP delegation. The "huge development" in Hamas's political vision, embodied in its joining the legitimate Palestinian framework, trailed the likely outcome of the dialogue. "Hamas will now become part of a framework it had previously rejected," Suleiman told the Weekly. "This is a pragmatic decision encouraged by everybody. The climate is very promising for the dialogue." Hamas will also now compete with Fatah -- a challenge the latter has accepted because "Fatah's internal divisions have left it exhausted with little energy or ability to monopolise power" says Suleiman. Never far from the inter-Palestinian dialogue lurks the spectre of Israel. In his opening speech President Abbas said that Israel was delaying the implementation of obligations made in February's Sharm El-Sheikh Summit by refusing to release 10,000 Palestinian political prisoners and pursuing the construction of settlements and the Apartheid wall. "We cannot implement commitments from just one side," he said. But Israel, too, is worried. By the end of September it is supposed to leave Gaza. By then Hamas will have contested and probably won the July elections and be represented in the PA. Israel will then have to decide how it will deal with its worst enemy's rise.
