EGYPT appears to be in agreement with the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas over how to end 27 months of damaging Palestinian divisions. In a press conference held in Cairo on 28 September, Hamas politburo chief Khaled Meshaal told reporters that a delegation representing the movement had met with Egyptian General Intelligence Chief Omar Suleiman to discuss Egyptian proposals for Palestinian reconciliation. Meshaal described the meeting as "very positive" and implied that Hamas and Egypt -- which has been sponsoring talks for the past year -- are in agreement. Meshaal added that Egyptian officials are now ready to present a final draft for Palestinian reconciliation and will invite the various Palestinian factions to sign it in October. Addressing the leadership of Fatah and the Palestinian Authority, Meshaal proposed to "leave the past behind" and move on to achieve reconciliation. Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) had not responded to the Hamas leader's statement by press time. Leading Fatah member Nabil Shaath, however, welcomed Meshaal's words as positive. "If Hamas approves of the Egyptian proposal without reservations... then we are closer to reconciliation," said Shaath. Egypt presented a written proposal in April to resolve the administrative, political, security and economic divisions that followed Hamas's takeover of Gaza in June 2007 and which saw the Strip effectively separated from the West Bank, where the PA is based. Fatah's animosity towards Hamas has meant that the former appeared more aligned with Israel and the US, both of which have been seeking to remove the Islamic movement from power and replace it with Fatah. Israel has imposed a strict economic siege on Gaza since June 2007. On 27 December 2008 it launched a vicious 22-day war on the besieged Strip with the aim of removing Hamas from power. The war, code named Operation Cast Lead, killed 1,440 Palestinians, the vast majority of them civilians. Yet Hamas remained in control. Cairo's official position is supportive of the PA and its President Mahmoud Abbas, who is also Fatah's secretary-general. Yet Egypt has continued to sponsor meetings between Fatah and Hamas, occasionally inviting other factions to the talks. In recent months Hamas has appeared more supportive of Egyptian proposals for reconciliation than Fatah. The latter would prefer a solution giving it control of Gaza together with the West Bank, while Egyptian proposals have centred on the formation of an executive committee -- comprising the various factions, including Hamas and Fatah -- to "run" Gaza under the political umbrella of Palestinian Authority President Abbas. The committee would be mandated to prepare for general and presidential elections. According to Hamas sources the movement requested that elections, due in January 2010, be postponed a few months, though not beyond mid-year. This is to allow for the proposed reconciliation to impact on the public mood in Gaza ahead of the poll. Given Meshaal's positive tone on Monday, any progress now hinges on Fatah and the Palestinian Authority. According to Hamas the PA security apparatus has detained 800 of its members and their release is crucial to reconciliation. During talks Fatah demanded 3000 members of its preventive police be deployed in Gaza. Hamas is reported to have agreed on the condition that its own executive police force have a presence in the West Bank. It is unclear how Fatah, or the final draft of the Egyptian proposal, will handle these issues. While Meshaal appeared positive, the Lebanese-daily Assafir reported on Tuesday that the Hamas leader had been flexible towards the Egyptian proposals in an attempt to guarantee that elections in Gaza and the West Bank are held simultaneously. Assafir reported that Meshaal had told several factions based in Damascus last week that PA President Abbas has been lobbying for elections to be held in the West Bank alone, a move that is interpreted as an attempt to further isolate Hamas and the Gaza Strip. Such a scenario, one Hamas source told the Weekly, is unacceptable to Egypt, which does not want responsibility for Gaza. It may also explain Meshaal's warning that no one should be deceived by the quiet that has descended on Palestine, for "the coal lies beneath the ashes".
