Hamas edges toward recognizing Israel
(AP)
Updated: 2006-05-12 19:52
Mushir al-Masri, a Gaza-based Hamas spokesman, praised the prisoners' effort
but refused to commit to the agreement.
"It could be a good base for a national platform and a national dialogue, but
it still needs more discussion," he said Thursday.
Abbas said he backs the draft, which also authorizes him to lead peace talks
with Israel based on what is referred to as "Arab legitimacy," an apparent
reference to an Arab peace initiative that calls for a two-state solution. "This
document is very important," Abbas said. "It includes a deep and realistic
political vision that to a very large extent represents my point of view ... and
thus I adopt it."
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has said he is ready to withdraw from much
of the West Bank to make way for an independent Palestinian state, but he plans
to keep large blocs of West Bank settlements and holy sites in east Jerusalem.
Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev declined to comment on the accord,
calling it an internal Palestinian matter.
The draft agreement does not renounce violence, saying Palestinians should
"focus their resistance on the lands occupied in 1967."
Hamas has largely observed a truce since February 2005 but has refused to
formally renounce violence. Barghouti has supported continued shooting and
bombing attacks against Israelis in the West Bank and Gaza, while Abbas opposes
all violence.
The prison negotiations were also aimed at ending rising tension between
Hamas and Fatah, who are vying for control of the government. The rivalry
erupted into violence in Gaza this week, killing three people and wounding more
than a dozen others, including five on Thursday.
Hamas and Fatah are to hold crucial talks in two weeks to try to settle their
differences, and the draft, which calls for Fatah to join the Hamas government,
could be part of the negotiations.
|
