Cairo is the venue for yet another round of talks between Palestinian factions wading through thorny issues and future challenges. Amira Howeidy reports Since Sunday -- and until Al-Ahram Weekly went to print -- two Palestinian delegations representing Hamas (the Palestinian Islamic resistance movement) and Fatah (President Yasser Arafat's faction) have been holding intensive meetings in Cairo. The theme of the meetings is "devising a joint strategy" in order to bring about internal Palestinian unity. Although this is neither the first series of meetings of its kind, nor the first on Egyptian soil (previous sessions were held in Cairo in 1995), the Fatah-Hamas negotiations have been shrouded in secrecy to the extent that the meeting's venue was changed three times in order to keep the media at bay. Egypt, the host, is keeping silent about its role, and "officially", Cairo is not involved. Yet sources close to the negotiations said that a top Egyptian official has been attending all the meetings to date. Participants in both delegations have adamantly refused to reveal the nature and scope of what is being discussed. In fact, information on the Cairo meetings has mostly come from Gaza and Damascus (headquarters of Hamas's politburo in exile). Zakaria Al-Agha, member of Fatah's central committee, is heading the Fatah delegation, while the Hamas delegation is headed by politburo member Moussa Abu Marzouk. "We're meeting with Fatah to discuss three themes," said Khaled Mesh'al, head of Hamas's politburo, in a telephone interview with Al-Ahram Weekly from Damascus. Mesh'al said the issues on the table are "the Palestinian political situation, the challenge of how to defend ourselves, and internal Palestinian relations". Contrary to the popular notion that Fatah is trying to persuade Hamas to stop its suicide attacks inside the Green Line (Israel's borders created on occupied Palestine in 1948), Mesh'al stressed that "the dialogue is not about stopping operations, because they're not the problem. The problem is the occupation itself." Fatah and Hamas, he added, are not meeting because they have problems that need to be resolved, because "both sides know that the problem lies with the Zionist party" in the conflict. That agreement, however, does not preclude that there are "differences" between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority (PA), conceded Mesh'al. "We agree on some areas, and disagree on others. We try to bridge the gap between the differences. And the issue of resistance has to do with the right of the Palestinian people." It is clear, nonetheless, that stopping suicide attacks really is the main item on the negotiating table. Sources close to Fatah revealed that there is indeed a readiness to halt suicide operations until Israeli elections take place in January. Hamas, however, wants Israeli concessions -- such as withdrawal from some Palestinian areas -- in return. Egypt also seems to be pushing matters in this same direction. President Hosni Mubarak revealed on Tuesday that he spoke to both Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Defense Minister Shaoul Mofaz. Mubarak said he told Mofaz that he should negotiate with Arafat. Sharon, meanwhile, was told by Mubarak that he is ready to exert efforts to achieve peace, but will not respond to "unfair" demands on Israel's part. The Fatah sources explained that both delegations will take the meeting's points of contention to their leaders in order to discuss where the next round of talks might lead. Since previous Hamas-Fatah meetings have failed, many observers wonder what's new about this round. Their level of "seriousness" is Mesh'al's reply. The current dialogue is not something that has just begun, he added. It was preceded by many other meetings, and will be followed by more. "This time, however, we are witnessing a precarious stage, since the general political atmosphere is quite tense, [both] because of the expected and imminent aggression against Iraq, as well as Sharon's extremist cabinet. Such an environment intensifies the dangers and serves as a prerogative to strengthen the internal Palestinian front." Egypt's "role" -- in Mesh'al's words -- is limited to that of the "host". "Egypt has very good relations with both Fatah and Hamas and Egypt's weight and role in the Palestinian struggle is greatly appreciated." Asked if Egyptian intelligence officials were present during the meetings, he argued that "the dialogue is done without liaisons. The Egyptians are dealing with this only as hosts." According to Abdel-Qader Yassin, a Cairo-based Palestinian activist, on 22 July the various Palestinian factions actually reached an agreement to halt suicide attacks. "Marwan El-Barghouti [the Fatah leader currently detained by Israel] had promised to sign the agreement from his Israeli prison cell, and Hamas's spiritual guide, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, also appeared on various satellite news channels expressing an inclination to accept it. But then Israeli war planes fired missiles on [Hamas leader] Salah Shehadeh in Gaza [and] the agreement ended right there." Today, Yassin told the Weekly, the European Union (EU) seems convinced that the mechanism of a peace settlement cannot go forward unless suicide operations stop. The Palestinians, on the other hand, want to reach an internal agreement, a desire that became especially acute after Hamas-affiliated individuals assassinated Palestinian colonel Rajeh Abu Lehya last October. "They want to stem the bloodshed," said Yassin. Hamas, meanwhile, wants to be part of the political decision-making. "But I really don't think this dialogue will reach an agreement at all, mainly because none of the previous negotiations were successful." Yassin's view is that the PA wants the Palestinian people to think it is seeking to unify the various factions, while Hamas is playing along because it does not want to seem like an obstacle to this unity. And what does Egypt want? "It is important for Egypt to count on a stable Palestinian regime," Yassin said. "Egypt wants to abort America's attempts to replace Arafat." Plus, "Palestine is very important to Egyptian national security." As the Weekly went to print on Wednesday, Mohamed Sobeih, the Palestinian representative at the Arab League, said that the meeting was nearly finished. He refused, however, to disclose any information regarding reports that last-minute progress had been made. Related stories: Bloody electioneering Unity in the face of adversity?
