Omar Suleiman, the head of the Egyptian intelligence, met yesterday with the delegations of Fattah and Hamas to continue their talks in Cairo in order to find a solution, in a prelude for an expanded meeting of all factions early next month. Dr. Zakaria Agha, a member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, said Omar Suleiman urged the parties to reach an agreement to end the division before of July 7; the scheduled date for announcing the agreement. He said the meeting with the minister was candid, as the minister confirmed to both parties that Egypt considers July 7 as the final proposed deadline for announcing the Palestinian reconciliation, and that any delay would have a negative impact on the Palestinian issue, pulling it backwards. Agha said: “In light of the meeting with Minister Suleiman, a special committee will settle the file of the political prisoners, allowing the go-ahead to discuss other issues.”
Dr. Mahmoud Zahar, a member of the Hamas delegation for the talks, said the file of the political prisoners was discussed in the past two days, but no agreement has been reached so far. He told Al-Masry Al-Youm: “We will hold a meeting again this evening, which may be the final one if an agreement is reached.”
He added: “When we started dialogue, there were 3,000 prisoners from Hamas in the West Bank. Now they are 9,000.” He said Fattah claims that the Palestine Liberation Organization has commitments that it cannot breach only to justify its refusal of the prisoners' release, calling just justification an unconvincing argument. Zahar pointed out that the three controversial issues will be discussed during the meetings of the dialogue, namely the restructuring of the security agencies, the Electoral Act and the duties of the Coordinating Committee that was proposed by Egypt until the holding of the elections. The National Action Authority, which includes the factions of the Palestine Liberation Organization, called in a statement yesterday for stopping the bilateral dialogue between Fattah and Hamas, and for holding an inclusive national dialogue, as bilateral dialogue proved to be a failure.
Meanwhile, the head of the Political and Security Bureau of the Israeli Defense Ministry, Amos Gilad, arrived in Cairo yesterday on a several-hour visit for talks with Egyptian officials regarding the truce and the exchange of prisoners deal between Israel and Hamas.
