Special report: Abbas calls for referendum on prisoners' document

   RAMALLAH, June 19 (Xinhua) -- A senior Fatah official said on Monday that the movement hoped the national dialogue could end up with adoption of the Prisoners' Document of National Accordance so that a technocrat government would be easily formed.

   Rafiek Natsha, member of Fatah's revolutionary council, told reporters on Monday that his movement is more interested in an inclusive political vision to be reached in the national dialogue.

   "We can't act on the local, regional and international fronts without a clear political program," said Natsha, adding that "forming a new cabinet is a secondary matter compared to the political program that should be agreed upon and honored."

   However, Natsha appeared pessimistic regarding the inter-Palestinian dialogue, saying that "what was agreed upon during the national dialogue sessions were formal points of no big controversy, while the essential points are not yet solved."

   Natsha's position came after the Palestinian officials announced that the factions, including the ruling Hamas movement, were likely to reach an agreement over the future of the Palestinian territories in the national dialogue.

   At the opening session of national dialogue held on May 25,Abbas said that he would order a referendum if the inter-Palestinian dialogue fails to adopt the National Accordance filed by Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

   The prisoners' document calls for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state on the territories that were occupied by Israel in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, which contradicts Hamas charter calling for destruction of Israel.

   On June 10, Abbas issued a presidential decree to hold a referendum on the document on July 26, but he stressed that talks would continue and the public vote would not proceed if an agreement is achieved. Enditem