Ahmed Abul-Gheit, Minister of Foreign Affairs, announced that the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Jordanian King Abdullah II will visit Cairo during the coming 48 hours. Abul Gheit said in a press statement yesterday, that Abbas is visiting Cairo as part of “the continued coordination and consultation,” during which he will meet President Hosni Mubarak. The Jordanian King's visit to Cairo Wednesday is for talks with Mubarak on “the latest developments in the region and international events.”
The visits of Abbas and Abdullah II to Cairo come before the anticipated Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Cairo.
On the other hand, Yasser Osman, Director of the Department of Palestine in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that the differences on the rebuilding of the security agencies put the recent negotiations among Palestinian factions in Cairo in the last few days on the line. Osman said to the Arab Affairs Committee at the Shura Council yesterday that the factions agreed to establish a framework of transitional leadership under the umbrella of the Palestine Liberation Organization so as not to affect the powers of the Executive Committee of the Organization.
He added: “There is a Palestinian consensus on the next elections to be a mixed system, combining existing lists system and single nominees,” pointing out that the difference between Fatah and Hamas focuses on the proportion of assessments for the two systems, and that they differed on how to activate the Legislative Council because of the arrest of members of the Council by Israel from the Hamas Movement, while Fatah has refused a proposal of the Islamic Movement of detainees to serve as a proxy for others to vote instead of them.
Osman said the factions have not agreed on the proposal of Egypt to form a Factional Committee in preparation for the elections and to oversee the reconstruction of Gaza, as well as the delivery of assistance to the population, stressing the depth of the differences between the factions, which led to the lack of consensus on the Egyptian proposal. The Ambassador Mohammed Bassiouni, Chairman of the Committee, considered the real crisis in the Palestinian reconciliation lies in the fact that the Palestinian decision is taken to achieve the objectives of regional targets and not domestic reasons. Refaat Alsaeed warned of the negative impact of the election of the Hamas Political Bureau, a few days ago, on the progress of the Palestinian reconciliation calling those elected to lead the movement as ‘fanatics' especially after their defense of Hisbullah following the recent Egyptian case.
