EGYPT'S Foreign Ministry welcomed yesterday the desire to seal Palestinian reconciliation as uttered recently by several officials from the Palestinian movement Hamas. However, it stressed that there would be no further changes made to the reconciliation document. "Hamas' desire to seal the unity deal is welcomed. This desire was missing during the previous months since October 15, when the group refused to sign the reconciliation document," said the spokesman for the Egyptian Foreign Ministry Hossam Zaki. He added that the Palestinian reconciliation was and "still is an Egyptian priority that needs no confirmation". "Re-negotiating the reconciliation document would delay its completion and would be a step backwards," Zaki told reporters in Cairo yesterday. Egypt has been mediating between the two rival parties which virtually severed ties in June 2007, when Hamas took over the Gaza Strip …quot; allegedly in response to an attempt by Fatah to stage a coup against the group. Hamas political chief Khaled Meshaal said Monday that the movement was ready for reconciliation with the rival Palestinian Fatah party, calling on Egypt to host a meeting on the issue. He urged Cairo to arrange a meeting to strike a deal between the two sides. "Egypt is still in its posture of reconciliation. All factions have to sign [the document] first, then all observations will be taken into consideration on the implementation," Zaki said. He added that reconciliation was a pressing need in order to resume talks about an independent Palestinian state with the Israelis. President Hosni Mubarak will hold talks on Saturday with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah on the latest US plans for resuming the stalled peace talks with Israel, according to the Palestinian Ambassador in Cairo Barakat el-Fara. Egypt's efforts to re-unite the two rival factions have so far failed and Cairo has postponed twice a planned signing of a reconciliation agreement because of the deep divisions between Hamas and Fatah. During the last attempt in October, Hamas refused to sign the Egyptian-brokered document aimed at paving the way for legislative and presidential elections. Fatah signed the document. Tensions with Egypt soared after Hamas refused to sign the deal, and were exacerbated Egypt's construction of an underground barrier against smuggling tunnels on its border with Gaza.
