Cairo is set on more Palestinian inter-factional dialogue, but will it work? Dina Ezzat looks for an answer Egypt is already considering a tentative date for a new round of intra-Palestinian dialogue. Official sources say that while nothing is set, tentatively by around the third week of next month, delegations from rivals Hamas and Fatah are expected to arrive in Cairo for consultations with Egyptian officials prior to direct Hamas-Fatah talks -- "not negotiations" but talks with "a firm Egyptian presence". The planned talks, sources say, have two objectives: first, to surpass the current severance of relations between Fatah and Hamas that went into effect since Hamas forces took over the Gaza Strip; and second, to ensure that Egypt is not left out in the cold longer than necessary when it comes to the Palestinian question. Official sources say Egypt intended to make clear to Hamas that it was offended by what President Hosni Mubarak earlier this week termed "a coup de force". In the final analysis, however, Egypt is aware that Hamas cannot be easily isolated from the Palestinian political scene. What is possible, they argue, is a change of the role that Hamas, an elected majority in the Palestinian Legislative Council, plays within a coordinated Palestinian political mechanism ultimately falling under the umbrella of Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority (PA). To set the tone for the talks, Cairo seems willing to refrain from making harsh statements against Hamas while not putting pressure on Fatah for the miscalculated acts of some of its Gaza-based leaders, including security chief Rashid Abu Shebak who was sacked last week. Following his participation in an Arab League ambassador-level meeting, Hani Khallaf, Egypt's permanent representative to the League, told reporters that Egypt is planning to soften the mandate of a fact-finding committee that was set up by a recent Arab foreign ministers meeting. "There is a growing tendency to amend the [role] of this committee from fact- finding to information-gathering. We are not in favour of over-stressing the concept of accountability at this stage," Khallaf told reporters. Sources say that tentative agreement for a round of discussions next month was secured during the week, first by General Intelligence Chief Omar Suleiman who has been in touch with Hamas leaders who Egypt qualifies as moderates, including Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, then through the bilateral talks President Mubarak held this week with Abbas in Sharm El-Sheikh ahead of a four-way summit that also included the Jordanian King Abdullah and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. One source suggests that Mubarak has convinced Abbas to stop his threats of a permanent boycott of Hamas. Judging by President Mubarak's inaugural statement at the opening session of the Arab- Israeli summit Monday evening, along with statements made to Egyptian television on the same day, Cairo seems keen to dispel its image of siding with Fatah leaders who had decided to isolate Hamas. "Our consultations today affirmed the necessity [...] to end differences and unify Palestinian ranks through dialogue. I affirmed that it is essential and pressing for all Palestinians to resume their dialogue and to agree on one stance that could convey the message of their people and [the legitimacy] of their cause to the world," Mubarak said during the Arab-Israeli summit. He added that it is through this unified stance that Palestinians and Israelis could resume negotiations on a solid basis and that Palestinians could avoid the de facto unilateral measures they are confronted with. Participating Jordanian delegates insisted that it is not in the interest of the Palestinian cause, nor in the interest of either Egypt or Jordan -- the two Arab states neighbouring the Palestinian territories -- to see the current Fatah- Hamas conflict continue for much longer. "The separation between Gaza and the West Bank under the current conditions is a serious cause for concern," said one senior Jordanian official speaking on condition of anonymity. Jordan is worried that frustrated Hamas elements in what is expected to be a Fatah-controlled West Bank would seek to carry out militant operations in neighbouring Jordan to force Amman to impose a closure on the West Bank similar to that imposed on Hamas in Gaza. Egyptian and Jordanian officials said that their capitals may not oppose a temporary separation to pressure Hamas into adopting a set of reconciliatory positions, including an agreement to either restrict itself to legislative functions or to agree to early elections, allowing the Palestinian people to judge on the performance of Hamas after it won a majority in elections held last year. So far Hamas stands opposed to both demands. It is not clear whether it has a reason, or for that matter the will, to change its position before its delegation arrives in Cairo next month. Meanwhile, Egypt and Jordan seem unwilling to oppose the offer by Olmert in Sharm El-Sheikh to provide an easier and more prosperous life to inhabitants of the Fatah-controlled West Bank in order "to reward" those who believe in moderation. Olmert's declared intention to unfreeze Palestinian tax returns and to release 250 Fatah political prisoners "who do not have blood on their hands" sometime in the near future, and even to remove a few checkpoints across the West Bank, was welcomed by both Mubarak and Abdullah as a goodwill gesture. Nonetheless, for the Egyptian and Jordanian leaders, the steps offered by Olmert, useful as they might be in helping Abbas manage the occupation in the West Bank, should not substitute for eventual final status talks aimed at ending the occupation. "All the serious developments that Gaza has passed through should be an incentive to move forward [with negotiations] that aim to realise the two-state solution," King Abdullah told the opening session of the Arab- Israeli summit. Judging by statements made in Sharm El-Sheikh by both Amira Oron, spokesperson for the Israeli Foreign Ministry, and Miriam Eisin, spokesperson for the Israeli cabinet, Israel is not ready to hit that target just yet, even though Olmert described Abbas in a lengthy speech addressing the Sharm El-Sheikh summit as a true partner for peace who shares Israel's rejection of the "terror" of Hamas. Whether or not Israel is ready to move forward does not depend on Egypt and Jordan, but rather on how far the US is willing to pressure Israel. Egyptian sources in Washington told Al-Ahram Weekly that, judging by the round of talks that Olmert held in the US capital earlier this month, the US is not about to apply any kind of pressure. Some argue that US reluctance to push for final status talks is signified in the indefinite delay of a meeting initially scheduled to convene in Cairo this weekend between the International Quartet on the Middle East (the US, UN, EU and Russia) and an Arab League ministerial committee in charge of promoting the Arab peace initiative. The meeting might be re-scheduled for mid-July but this has not yet been confirmed.
