Abbas sets deadline for Hamas agreement
(AP)
Updated: 2006-05-25 19:07
In a dramatic announcement, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Thursday
he will call a national referendum on the parameters of a future Palestinian
state if no agreement is reached with Hamas on a political platform within 10
days.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas
also known as Abu Mazen, attends a Palestinian National Dialogue
Conference at Abbas' headquarters in the West Bank town of Ramallah,
Thursday, May 25, 2006. [AP] |
If the deadline expires, Abbas said, he would call a referendum within 40
days on a proposal to accept Palestinian statehood in the West Bank, Gaza and
east Jerusalem, the areas Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast War.
A senior Hamas official said the militant group accepted the proposal.
"Returning to the people is one of the most important principles in
democracy," said Abdel Aziz Duaik, the Hamas speaker of
parliament.
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