 |
| Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail
Haneya told a press conference in Gaza City on Sunday that holding
referendum in the Palestinian territories is "illegal".
(Xinhua/AFP) |
GAZA, June
4 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian Prime Minister and senior Hamas leader Ismail Haneya
said on Sunday that holding referendum in the Palestinian territories is
"illegal".
"Any referendum taking place in the Palestinian
territories is illegal," Haneya told a press conference in Gaza City, adding
however that "from a political point of view, the referendum needs intensive
study."
Haneya, meanwhile, urged all parties to continue with
the national dialogue which started ten days ago to solve political differences
between Hamas and President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah.
On May 25, Abbas opened the dialogue by asking
Palestinian factions to accept the so-called prisoners' initiative by Sunday or
he would put the proposal to a referendum within 40 days.
The document which was drafted by Palestinian leaders
jailed by Israel called for, among other things, the establishment of an
independent Palestinian state on the territories Israel occupied in 1967 Middle
East war.
Hamas, which remains committed to the destruction of
Israel, has so far refused to accept the document which is widely seen as
implicit recognition of the Jewish state.
Haneya also called for the dialogue to be moved to
Gaza from the West Bank city of Ramallah.
"Moving the dialogue to Gaza gives better chances to
make it successive," Haneya said, adding that "traveling inside Gaza is easier
and that all factions are based there."
The Hamas-led government has been boycotted by Israel
and its Western allies as it refuses to renounce violent resistance, recognize
Israel's right to exist and abide by signed peace deals with Israel.
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