Speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council , just released from an Israeli detention centre, has called for "immediate reconciliation" between Fatah and Hamas, saying the rift between the two factions was inflicting incalculable damage on the Palestinian national cause. Khaled Amayreh talked to Duweik in Ramallah The 60-year-old professor called on both Fatah and Hamas to "immediately and unconditionally release all political prisoners. The message I am carrying is a message of unity and reconciliation," said Duweik, repeating the phrase three times. He revealed that Hamas political leaders in Israeli jails were formulating a vision for overcoming the rift between Fatah and Hamas and restoring the "geographical unity" between the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Duweik also urged the Palestinian masses to make every possible effort to get Israel to improve the virulent prison conditions facing elected Palestinian lawmakers in solitary confinement. He described conditions in Israeli jails as "uglier than ugliness", adding that some prisoners, like Nael Barghouthi, have spent 32 years in detention, without any hope for freedom anytime soon. Duweik said he would seek to revive and activate the Palestinian Legislative Council, effectively paralysed since Israel rounded up 46 lawmakers in connection with their affiliation with Hamas, two years ago. However, his efforts to that effect are unlikely to succeed before ending the rift between Fatah and Hamas. In Hebron, his hometown and a traditional stronghold of Hamas, Duweik received a hero's welcome as thousands of people came to wish him well. Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas paid a courtesy call on Duweik, informing him of his readiness to work with him for the common good of the Palestinian people. However, two Hamas lawmakers accompanied Duweik. One of them, Omar Abdul Razzaq, remarked: "How could you be optimistic when the PA security agencies are rounding people en masse?" Earlier this week, Abbas said he was going to release hundreds of Hamas supporters from PA custody. However, the PA is still carrying out sweeping arrests of Hamas-affiliated figures, prompting Hamas to urge Egypt "to rein in this madness". Duweik was taken hostage by Israel three years ago in retaliation for the capture by Hamas militants of an Israeli soldier in the Gaza Strip. As many as 35 Hamas lawmakers are still in Israeli custody as Israeli military courts gave them jail sentences ranging between three and four years for taking part in "illegal elections" not okayed by the occupying power.
