CAIRO: Palestinian Hamas leader Khaled Mashal said this week from Damascus that a reconcilition deal between Hamas and Fatah could be close to fruition. The two groups have taken serious and real steps toward reconciliation, the Israeli daily Ha'aretz reported him saying on Thursday. Now in Cairo, Syria-based Mashal met with a Fatah delegation led by Azzam al-Ahmad, to clarify the details of the prisoner swap deal recently agreed upon between Hamas and Israel, freeing Israeli prisoner Gilad Shalit in return for 1,027 Palestinians. Here, tempers were well-mannered. Fatah's Ahmad expressed satisfaction regarding the outcome of the Cairo meeting, and the way talks are heading. “I met Mashal tonight, we were both in Egypt and we decided to take advantage of the situation,” Ahmad told reporters on Wednesday. Referring to a possible revival of a reconciliation deal agreed on between the factions this May, he also implied that an “actualization of the deal might be on its way.” The two sides conclusively agreed on meeting again later this month as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas concluded his world tour to seek support for the Palestinian Statehood bid in the United Nations. The reconciliation deal of May was derailed by disputes over who was to assume the seat of Prime Minister, as Hamas disapproved of the Fatah-chosen present PM Salam Fayyad. Additionally, Hamas earlier refused signing a “reconciliation paper” document drafted in Cairo, as it considered it biased towards Fatah. The movement feared it might lead to Fatah maintaining control over the official Palestinian security apparatus. Hamas has neither approved of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' bid for statehood at the United Nations, stating that Palestine should not have to plea for recognition as a state. In spite of renewed reconciliation talks, all is not rosy after the prisoner-swap deal was signed Tuesday. Hamas' armed wing, The al-Qassam Brigades, declared Wednesday that Shalit will not be the last Israeli soldier to be captured in order to push for the release of Palestinians. “The Al-Qassam Brigades is committed to each and every prisoner behind bars,” a spokesman stated, as the group added it would “bring them home through any means necessary.” BM
