CAIRO, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Arab League (AL) chief Amr Moussa has pledged
Arab support for Egypt's mediation between rival Palestinian factions, the
Egyptian official MENA news agency reported Thursday.
Moussa made the pledge at a joint press conference here Wednesday night
with Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Saud al Faisal who chairing the current AL
foreign ministerial session, after an extraordinary Arab foreign ministers
meeting on Israeli-Palestinian fighting in Gaza.
Arab foreign ministers have fully authorized Egypt to continue the
mediation to solve the Palestinian-Palestinian divide and to contact all parties
concerned. Moussa was quoted by MENA as saying.
Stressing that Cairo's mediation efforts did not fail, the AL chief vowed
that the next few weeks will witness great activity in the Palestinian
reconciliation sphere.
He further explained that many elements and issues led to the postponement
of the inter-Palestinian dialogue, but "the point that all agree upon is that
Egypt continue with its mediation efforts."
For his part, Faisal also highlighting the importance of the Egyptian
mediation, saying that all Arab countries have reiterated their trust in and
appreciation for Egypt's relentless efforts in solving the Palestinian problem.
He, meanwhile, called for offering any kind of possible assistance that
Egypt sees necessary, stressing that if Palestinians do not find a solution to
their problems with Egypt, any other effort will fail.
A statement was issued late Wednesday after the emergency meeting of Arab
foreign ministers, calling on rival Palestinian movements of Hamas and Fatah to
work together for the national unity of the Palestinians.
The two Palestinian movements should take part in the ongoing efforts by
parties concerned to help reach Palestinian national reconciliation, said the
statement.
Hamas and Fatah have been trading politically motivated abductions against
their dissidents since Hamas seized the Gaza Strip by force in mid June of 2007.
In early November, Hamas thwarted the Egyptian initiative to hold an
inter-Palestinian reconciliation dialogue that was due to start on Nov. 10 in
Cairo, saying it can not sit with Fatah while its supporters and members in the
West Bank face a Fatah-led clampdown.