GAZA, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- Islamic Hamas movement on Saturday rejected claims that its Gaza-based leaders and the exiled leaders in Damascus have different stances on reconciliation with Fatah.
"Hamas is the most responsible movement: its opinions and decisions are independent and it is united," Mushier al-Massri, a Hamas official in Gaza, told Xinhua.
Hamas made the remarks after Nabil Shaath, a senior official from President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah movement, said he felt that the Hamas leaders in Gaza "had real intentions to end the split and this apparently did not satisfy its (Hamas) leaders in Damascus."
Shaath made his remarks to the London-based Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper after he left the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip on Friday. Shaath held talks with Hamas during his three-day visit, the first by a senior Fatah leader to Gaza since Hamas defeated Fatah and took over of the coastal enclave in June 2007.
"We won't allow Shaath to be a mouthpiece for the Zionist rumors that try to divide Hamas into two," al-Massri added.
Sources told Xinhua that Shaath and Hamas leaders exchanged opinions that the two movements wanted to defuse tension and stop crackdown on supporters in the Hamas-ruled Gaza and in the Fatah- governed West Bank.
In October, Hamas refused to sign an Egyptian-drafted proposal aimed to reconcile with Fatah and restore political unity to the geographically-divided Palestinian territories.
The talks between Hamas leaders and Shaath, a member of Fatah central committee, were the first since Egypt halted its mediation efforts in October.
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Fatah's Shaath hold talks with senior Hamas leaders in Gaza
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| Nabil Shaath (C), member of Fatah Central Committee, attends a joint press conference with senior Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya (R) following their meeting in Gaza City, Feb. 3, 2010. Senior Fatah official Nabil Shaath arrived in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday for a good-will visit to push forward the process of reaching an inter-reconciliation agreement. Shaath's visit is the first by a high-ranking Fatah official since Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip by force and routed President Abbas security forces in June 2007. (Xinhua/Wissam Nassar) |
GAZA, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- A senior member of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah party on Wednesday night held talks with senior Islamic Hamas movement leaders in Gaza City. Full story
