DOHA – Egypt's success in brokering an inter-Palestinian reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas is a first step towards restoring Egypt's pivotal role on supporting Arab action, Egypt's Prime Minister Essam Sharaf said. "There are forthcoming steps Egypt are planning towards inter-Arab work following brokering the Palestinian unity," Sharaf told reporters after Doha talks with Qatari crown Prince Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. The interim Premier, who took over early in March, added that the Arab consensus “should be the trademark of the coming stage”. Hamas and Fatah reached an Egyptian-brokered "complete understanding after talks on all the points, including the formation of a transitional government with a specific mandate and setting a date for elections". "Egypt will now call a meeting of all Palestinian factions to sign a reconciliation agreement in Cairo soon," according to a a statement by the Egyptian Intelligence, which led the talks. The Planned Palestinian unity government drew different responses from Israel and other countries. Israel, challenged by the surprise Palestinian unity deal, said yesterday it was born of panic by. "This deal ... stems from panic �" a huge panic," Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman told Army Radio, an assessment echoed by Defense Minister Ehud Barak in a separate interview. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, meanwhile, said he had hoped a unity deal between his Fatah party and Hamas would help "promote negotiations" with Israel. "We expect that what was achieved yesterday between Fatah and Hamas will promote negotiations," Abbas told Israeli peace activists and the media at his headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah. The United States, Iran and some other countries had their varied comments on the deal, which was hailed by The New York Times as a new victory of the Egyptian revolutionary Government. The US warned that any Palestinian unity government must renounce violence. National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor said Washington had seen reports of the possible tie-up and was seeking more information. "The United States supports Palestinian reconciliation on terms which promote the cause of peace," Vietor said. Iran, which has close ties with Hamas, hailed a reconciliation deal reached by rival Palestinian groups Hamas and Fatah to set up a transitional unity government and hold elections. Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi whose nation staunchly backs Islamist movement Hamas said he "welcomed" the agreement. "This is the first triumph of the great Egyptian people concerning Palestine after the developments in Egypt, and the effort of Egyptian government is appreciated," Salehi was quoted as saying by the state television website.
