Abbas wants to visit Al-Assad to ease tensions after quarrels in Sirte. Syria has yet to respond, writes Bassel Oudat in Damascus Palestinian sources in Ramallah have said the leadership of Fatah has informed the Syrian leadership that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas wants to visit Damascus to meet with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad to reduce tensions between the two men after the emergency Arab summit in the Libyan city of Sirte in October. Syrian sources have not yet confirmed if Al-Assad will agree to receive Abbas or will postpone the meeting. The Syrian and Palestinian presidents argued during the Sirte summit about the Arab Peace Initiative Committee. "It is not the duty of the committee to give the Palestinians the authority to negotiate," asserted Al-Assad. Abbas responded that "the Palestinian cause is primarily an Arab issue," and that if the committee were not responsible for the Palestinian issue it would means that the Arabs had abandoned the Palestinian cause. The quarrel escalated, according to media reports quoting officials at the closed session, and revealed an "acute dispute" between Syria and the Palestinian Authority (PA) over three essential issues. First, Syria's strong support for the Islamic resistance movement Hamas. Hamas and Fatah remain bitterly divided after long-standing tensions boiled over in 2007, a year after Hamas won the Palestinian parliamentary elections and Fatah, disregarding the results, held on to power causing a split within the Palestinian arena. Ironically, the Muslim Brotherhood -- the original base for Hamas -- is banned in Syria. Second, Syria's support and advocacy of resistance, as the Syrian president argued that the price of resistance is far less than the cost of "submissive solutions". Meanwhile, Abbas asserts that Syria supports resistance inside the Palestinian territories, but not within its own borders. He also noted that peace is a strategic choice of the Arabs and that peaceful resistance is more appropriate for the time being. Third, Syria's tacit rejection of Palestinian negotiations with Israel at a time when Syrian-Israeli talks are at a complete standstill with no hope of progress in sight. A meeting between Fatah and Hamas was scheduled to take place in Damascus shortly after the Sirte summit to discuss Palestinian rapprochement and the possibility of reaching an agreement on signing the Egyptian proposal for reconciliation. But the row resulted in the meeting being postponed. A few days later Fatah asked for the meeting to be held in another capital, perhaps Beirut, Ankara or the Qatari capital Doha. After Arab mediation, tensions between the leaders calmed and Fatah agreed to resume talks with Hamas in Damascus. PA officials noted that it is important to maintain very good relations with Arab states, including Syria, despite differences in political views. They also called on Damascus for dialogue without prejudice. The Syrian leadership did not block a meeting between the two groups in Damascus, but at the same time did not make any positive moves towards the PA -- even after Abbas said he wanted to visit Damascus and turn over a new leaf with Assad. Meanwhile, according to informed Palestinian sources, the chief of Palestinian intelligence General Majed Faraj regularly goes to Damascus on unannounced visits to brief top Syrian security officials about developments in negotiations with Israel. At the same time, other PA officials also visit Syria regularly. A Palestinian diplomatic source in Damascus asserted that Abbas "has not yet set a date for his visit to Syria", and denied that the Syrians disapprove of the trip or refuse to meet him for political reasons. "I don't believe there is a problem between the Syrian leadership and President Abbas," Ambassador Anwar Abdel-Hadi, director of political affairs in the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) in Damascus, told Al-Ahram Weekly. "On the contrary, Syria is in contact with everyone and is at the same distance from everyone." Abdel-Hadi continued that Abbas "is keen on continuously consulting with the Syrian leadership. Any disagreement is caused by differences in vision and views, but the goal is one: the liberation of occupied Arab land." "There may be many disputes, but they are not personal. They always arise from the intent of each side to achieve something for the Arab cause," he continued. "I believe Syria is an advocate, supporter and partner on Arab issues." Differences in opinion between the leaders of Syria and the PA are not unusual. Syrian-Palestinian relations have gone through many crises since the 1970s. Relations remained frozen until 2000 when late Palestinian President Yasser Arafat attended the funeral of president Hafez Al-Assad in Damascus. Although Damascus was once a Palestinian headquarters, Syria has accused the PLO of trying to push it aside regarding the Palestinian issue. In 2001, Damascus reopened offices for Fatah. In January 2005, Mahmoud Abbas visited Damascus when he was Fatah's candidate for the Palestinian presidency, to restore relations with Syria. Assad telephoned Abbas to congratulate him on his victory in the presidential elections, and Abbas has been keen on visiting Damascus regularly every year since. But Syria did not stop supporting Hamas, Fatah's nemesis, and breached the Arab boycott of the group. It also formed an alliance with it that includes Lebanon's Hizbullah and Iran, which concerned the PA and several Arab states. Meanwhile, Syria attempted to sponsor Palestinian reconciliation, as a means to assert its importance with regard to the Palestinian issue, but the PA vehemently rejected the move. According to Fatah, reconciliation must only take place in Egypt and be directly sponsored by Egypt, or else it will never happen. This position annoyed Syria, although it stated that reconciliation is what is important and that it does not insist that it takes place in Damascus. Close relations between the PA and Cairo overshadow the relationship with Damascus, especially because ties between Egypt and Syria are somewhat lukewarm. In this context, Syria accused Abbas of "hiding behind Arab diplomacy" and talks about "covert" coordination between the PA and several Arab capitals. Damascus is worried that it might lose its role if other Arab capitals become more influential on Palestinian decisions. Ahmed Jibril, secretary general of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, an ally of Hamas, believes that Abbas "is not serious about improving ties with Syria". Jibril said Abbas was only taking "tactical steps" to put pressure on Israel and the US by implying that he has other options. On the other hand, it is unlikely that Syria will sever ties with the PA. Damascus wants to show itself as a country that maintains good relations with all Palestinian political forces. Also that it deals with all Palestinians equally, hoping that non-Palestinians do not overstep Palestinian boundaries. At the same time, Syria insists that the Palestinians cannot secure their rights without the support of Damascus.
