Aggravated inter-Palestinian strife is proving hard for mediators to contain, Dina Ezzat reports President Hosni Mubarak intensified contacts to garner regional support to contain the inter- Palestinian fighting in Gaza. On Monday, Mubarak called Jordanian King Abdullah and Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh. He asked both leaders to exercise their influence over the Palestinian factions to end their fighting. "What's happening now evokes disturbing memories of the June [2006 of Hamas-Fatah fighting]. This is a very sad development with serious reprecussions on the regional support for the legitimate Palestinian cause," Presidential Spokesman Suleiman Awwad told Al-Ahram Weekly in a telephone interview Tuesday. Mubarak is set to continue his regional consultations. A limited Arab summit to discuss the current Hamas-Fatah crisis is not out of the question. Meanwhile, Egypt is stepping up its alert on its eastern borders with the Gaza Strip as inter- Palestinian factional squabbles show no sign of abating. "There is no telling how the situation will develop, but things do not look good and we cannot take any chances," commented one official on condition of anonymity. According to this source, clear directives have been issued for borders guards to take all necessary precautions to ensure "no infiltration" from the Palestinian territories into Egypt. Egyptian authorities have taken a firm decision to prevent Hamas-Fatah fighting in Gaza from spilling over into the border city of Rafah. Palestinians, whether from Hamas, Fatah or any other faction, will not be allowed to enter Egypt without the approval of the authorities. Over the past week, Hamas-Fatah fighting has taken a serious turn for the worst. Scores from both sides were wounded and killed and over 100 Fatah sympathisers fled to Israel with some finding their way to Ramallah. Some were kept for medical treatment in Israeli hospitals. Waves of intensive contacts conducted by Omar Suleiman, Egyptian General Intelligence chief and top inter-Palestinian mediator, and by Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa whose organisation has kept open channels with Hamas and Fatah, have failed to yield as little as a solid commitment to put inter-fighting on hold. Late last week, the office of Suleiman issued "invitations" for Fatah, Hamas and other leading Palestinian factions for a national dialogue to be launched by Egypt and potentially culminate under the umbrella of the Arab League. The invitation left vague possible dates, the agenda and format of talks. One Egyptian source told Al-Ahram Weekly, "the positions of the parties are not clear, but given the volatile situation on the ground we could not just sit and watch while things get worse." The tentative plan, sources suggest, is to get each of the nine factions invited to send a delegation to Cairo for separate and follow-up talks with Egyptian intelligence teams. The issues to be examined during these talks should be wide- ranging, including the restructuring of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) -- a priority for Hamas. The location of the headquarters of Palestinian Authority (PA) security agencies in Gaza -- under the control of Hamas since its takeover of Gaza a year go -- should also be given attention. Once "some clear understandings" are reached, sources say, Egypt could then call for "a roundtable dialogue with the participation of the representatives of all factions". This is unlikely to take place for many weeks, according to Egyptian officials. "The positions of Hamas and Fatah are very far and there is now a vendetta," acknowledged one source. He added that the fact that agreement on the agenda of talks is uncertain is a clear indication that Hamas-Fatah priorities are very different "if not clearly opposed". "We can try to bring about an understanding, but we cannot impose it," the source added. Egypt and the Arab League have for long been talking about inter-Palestinian reconciliation but without making inroads towards that end. According to Hesham Youssef, chief of staff of the Arab League secretary-general, slow progress should be blamed primarily on Palestinian leaders. "Achieving Palestinian reconciliation should be an obvious priority for all Palestinian leaders. Mediators can attempt to reconcile differences, but they cannot decide priorities for the parties," Youssef told the Weekly in a telephone interview. Youssef squarely rejects all charges of Arab failure in attending to the Palestinian situation. "Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and the Arab League have been trying very hard to pave the way towards Palestinian reconciliation, but neither could substitute for the lack of political will on the side of the Palestinian leaders," Youssef said. "In Lebanon, the mediation went on and on with little progress, but when the leaders [for their own reasons] decided that they would move towards reconciliation, an agreement was in order," he insisted. Egyptian and Arab League officials affirm that the escalation of Hamas-Fatah fighting will not dissuade them from advocating for general Palestinian unity.
