February 10, 2006

DISCUSSINONS IN ARAB CAPITALS ABOUT THE LATEST PALESTINIAN DEVELOPMENTS. PRESIDENT ABBAS: I CONSIDER THE SIDE TO BE ASSIGNED TO FORM THE GOVERNMENT IS HAMAS. INTERNATIONAL CONDITIONS AND PRESSURES BEFORE THE FORMATION OF THE NEW GOVERNMENT, AND THE UNSC CALLS FOR RESPECTING AGREEMENTS AND PRINCIPLES. The official session of talks between the Egyptian government and the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) was held Monday February 7 in Cairo. The Egyptian side was headed by Minister Omar Suleiman while Hamas delegation was under Khalid Meshaal, Chairman of the movement's politburo and Ismail Haniah, a senior movement leader'. Emerging from the meeting, Haniah said the talks dwelt on the new Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) and government formation. Haniah said that they "informed Minister Sueliman of [their] readiness to hold talks with all Palestinian factions." He also quoted Suleiman as saying Egypt was ready to move on the regional and international arenas to help the Palestinian people regain rights. Meanwhile, Moussa Abu Marzouq, deputy head of Hamas' politburo, said there was a clear-cut distinction between recognizing Israel and dealing with it. Hamas' political leader Khaled Meshaal, currently visiting Egypt, voiced on Tuesday expressed appreciation of the role Egypt plays in support of the legitimate Palestinian rights. In press statements following his meeting with the Egyptian Presidential political adviser Osama El Baz, Meshaal said the current visit by a Hamas delegation to Egypt is the first leg of a tour to Arab and Islamic countries to hold consultations with their leaders on several pressing issues. Meshaal said consultations with Cairo have been maintained in the current critical stage, especially that the movement is very keen to. The movement has asked Egypt and the Arab nation to continue to support the Palestinian people, especially in light of pressures and threats to cut off aid to the Palestinians after Hamas scored a resounding victory in the recent Palestinian legislative elections, he said. Meshaal was confident that Arab and Islamic nations would continue their support of the Palestinians. Speaking to reporters following the meeting, Al-Baz said his talks with Meshaal came within the context of continued consultations between Egypt and the Palestinians. "It is only natural that the two sides meet and hold consultations on important questions" Al-Baz said. Egypt has strongly supported the Palestinian national objectives to liberate their lands, he said, noting that the Palestinians were seeking a just and comprehensive peace. On the demands from Hamas, he said that the world community has urged not to put conditions on Hamas, rather it should concentrate on how to resolve the Arab- Israeli conflict even-handedly taking into consideration the rights of each party. Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa, however, said the League will deal with the new Palestinian government to be formed by Hamas because it won the recent Palestinian legislative elections. Moussa said that there is a long time before the convocation of the Palestinian Legislative Council and the formation of a new government. The Palestinians should not be exclusively required to honor their commitments, while Israel is going ahead with its policy of assassinations and settlement activities, Moussa said, making it clear that this was not acceptable. The Arab League consulted with Hamas because it was chosen by the Palestinian people, Moussa said, noting that he was informed by Meshaal that the movement was ready to hold dialogue with all Palestinian powers and with the Fatah movement. The Arab League is ready to host any meeting by the Palestinian factions, he said, noting that no party demanded that. Moussa described his talks with the Hamas delegation as "fruitful and useful," saying it served as a prelude to a series of future consultations. On his part, Meshaal said his talks with Moussa were very constructive, noting the movement was able to reach a common vision with all Palestinian factions on how to deal with the situation on the ground while maintaining the firm principles of the movement and the Palestinian people. A delegation of Hamas leaders had arrived in Cairo on February 5 for talks with Egyptian officials on the formation of the new Palestinian government. The delegation includes Chief of Hamas Political Office Khaled Meshaal, Dr. Mahmoud al-Zahar and Ismael Haneyah. Following their talks, the delegation will make an Arab and Islamic tour for explaining Hamas attitude towards a wide range of local and international issues. Meantime, Hamas Movement hailed Egypt's efforts to maintain concord among the Palestinian people, said Dr. Mahmoud al-Romy, the spokesman for the Hamas parliamentary bloc. President Mubarak received Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas before he met Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni who arrived in Cairo Wednesday 1/2/2006 on her maiden visit abroad. Presidential spokesman ambassador Suleiman Awwad said Khaled Meshaal the Chairman of the Political Office of Hamas would also arrive in Cairo soon. In statements to reporters following the Mubarak-Abu Mazen meeting, the Presidential spokesman said the meeting came as part of ongoing consultations between the two leaders and as a sign of President Mubarak's keenness to offer support for the Palestinian people. Awwad added that the talks dealt with developments taking place following the Palestinian legislative elections. The talks also dealt with the coming Israeli elections, due in March, he remarked. As for Hamas electoral victory, said Awwad, Egypt believes it is the outcome of a democratic process. Presidential Spokesman Awwad said that whoever might the winner be in the Palestinian elections and the coming Israeli elections, the two parties should act in line with the international community's consensus on reaching a just and durable settlement to the Palestinian question. He pointed out that Egypt, and all other parties concerned including Israel should work towards assisting the Palestinian people and their national Authority. President Mubarak has been in constant contact with President Abbas before, during and after the Palestinian elections, said Awwad, noting that President Mubarak has encouraged Abbas to remain in office at a time when the Palestinian President was considering resigning. Responding to a question on whether President Mubarak would meet any of Hamas leaders, Presidential spokesman Awwad said that the head of Hamas' political office, Khaled Meshaal would visit Egypt soon. Egypt has contacts with all Palestinian factions, said Awwad, noting that Hamas and other factions were very well aware of the fact that they should prove that there is a Palestinian peace partner, capable of implementing the Roadmap for peace. On whether the Mubarak-Abbas talks dealt with the form of the coming Palestinian government, Awwad said that the two sides dealt with a host of issues. As for the timing of Abbas visit, when the Israeli Foreign Minister is on her maiden visit to Egypt, Awwad said it was not planned. Answering a query about Egypt's apprehension over the results of the Palestinian elections, Awwad said that Egypt was not worried. What matters now, said Awwad, is how to deal with the next stage. At the same time, President Mubarak Wednesday 1/2/2006 received Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni with whom he discussed the current developments in Israel and the Palestinian Territories. The meeting also focused on the relations between the Palestinian & the Israeli sides. Following the one-hour meeting, the Israeli Foreign Minister thanked President Mubarak for inviting her to visit Cairo. She described her talks with Mubarak as extremely important due to the current sensitive regional situation. She said that she exchanged views with Mubarak on several issues, including the latest developments. Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit indicated at the joint press conference with his Israeli counterpart, that the talks with the Israeli delegation dealt with the situation in the Middle East along with Egyptian-Israeli relations. Answering a question on the possibility of Hamas changing its stances after winning the Palestinian legislative elections, Abul-Gheit said any policy shift should be in line with the political context. "As for fears inside Israel that the Middle East peace process would be affected by Hamas accession to power, Abul-Gheit said that everybody should understand that the Palestinian Authority is run by its legitimately elected President Mahmoud Abbas. Answering a question on Egypt's stance regarding attempts by the international quartet to punish Hamas and threats to halt assistance to the Palestinian people, Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit said Egypt does not support that.. Rather, he added Egypt has always been calling for maintaining assistance to the Palestinian people and Authority. Responding to another question on whether Egypt has set preconditions to cooperate with Hamas, Abul Gheit took issue with the term "preconditions", saying it was not part of Egypt's diction. Egypt, he expounded, has always been working to persuade all parties concerned to work towards reaching a solution. Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni met with President Mubarak to discuss Hamas' election win and Israel's decision to freeze tax rebates and customs to Palestinian Authority. "We're facing a sensitive situation in the region," Livni said following the meeting. Livni landed in Egypt with an unequivocal message which is backed by the United States, the United Nations and the European Union: Hamas must renounce violence. Livni met with president Mubarak in the al-Ittihad Presidential Palace. Among the issues the two leaders discussed was Israel's decision to freeze the transfer of tax rebates and customs to the Palestinian Authority after Hamas's legislative victory. Following the session, Livni said the meeting was "illuminating." Israel was supposed to transfer some NIS 200 million (USD 45 million) to the Palestinian Ministry of Finance in accordance with trade agreements signed in Oslo in 1993 and in Paris in 1995. The agreements state that tax rebates should not be used to fund terror attacks. Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said that Israel will not transfer taxes to the Palestinian Authority for fears that Hamas, which is expected to form a Palestinian government, will use the money to fund terror attacks against Israel. Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni said her talks with President Hosni Mubarak were "very important" because of sensitivity of the regional developments. Livni, speaking to reporters after meeting with Mubarak, thanked the Egyptian president for inviting her to Cairo. She said Egypt had already announced continuous support for the Palestinian and Israeli sides to resume the peace process, and that the US and European financial assistance should continue. Sources in the Israeli delegation said the Jewish state should ask Egypt to mediate between the Israelis and Palestinians. They told reporters Livni wanted to listen to the Egyptians following the recent Palestinian legislative elections, in which Hamas won. The sources said Israel would hold elections next March and it was important to know positions of regional countries. After a meeting with Foreign Minister Farouk Al-Shara Chief of Hamas Movement Khaled Mashaal said: " The meeting with Shara comes within the framework of consultation with the Arab and Islamic nations, particularly with Syria that we highly appreciate her stances towards the Palestinian people and the nation's just causes," " We have big confidence in Arab brothers, Muslims and all honest people in all over the world, on top of which is Syria, to persist in supporting the Palestinian right despite all external pressures practiced by some parties," Mashaal told reporters following his meeting with Shara. He added: "Hamas is conferring with the parliamentary blocs in the new legislative council, all Palestinian forces and factions as well as with independent personalities because the movement is careful to form a national coalition government able to shoulder its responsibilities in this critical stage," On pressures put on Hamas to recognize Israel, Mashaal said: "The world has to compel Israel to recognize the Palestinian right. It is not fair to ask the victim to recognize its killer," Meanwhile the United Nations Security Council voiced its expectation that the new Palestinian Government will remain committed to peace and called for both parties to abide by their obligations under existing agreements. Congratulating the Palestinian people for their recent election, the Council President for February, Ambassador John Bolton of the United States, read out a statement on behalf of the members welcoming President Abbas' affirmation that the Palestinian Authority remains committed to the Road Map outline peace plan, previous agreements and obligations between the parties, and a negotiated two-State solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Noting the humanitarian needs of the Palestinian people, the statement reaffirmed the Council's continuing interest in the fiscal stability of the caretaker government, "consistent with clear reform and austerity benchmarks," Mr. Bolton said. "The Security Council notes that major donors have indicated that they will review future assistance to a new Palestinian Authority government against that government's commitment to the principles of non-violence, recognition of Israel, and acceptance of previous agreements and obligations," he added. Both parties were reminded of their obligations "including on movement and access." The Council called on them to avoid unilateral actions which prejudice final status issues. "The Security Council underlines the need for the Palestinian Authority to prevent terrorist attacks and dismantle the infrastructure of terror," Mr. Bolton said, reiterating the Council's view that "settlement activity must stop" and its concern about the route of the separation barrier. "The Security Council reaffirms its profound attachment to the vision of two democratic States, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security," he said. On the other hand the Quartet granted the Islamic Resistance Movement a "grace period" of three months to comply with their "conditions." US President George W. Bush reiterated those conditions: "The conditions for peace and the conditions for a settlement will be up to Hamas to make the right decisions," he said, adding: "Hamas must renounce its desire to destroy Israel; it must recognize Israel's right to exist, and it must get rid of the armed wing of its party." "In order for the United States to support a Palestinian government run by Hamas, Hamas must change its party platform and change its way of thinking and get rid of this armed group, as well as change its attitude toward Israel," Bush said. The Quartet, in a statement released following a meeting in London on January 30, warned that ,"future assistance to any future (Palestinian) government would be reviewed by donors against the government's commitment to the principles of non-violence, recognition of Israel and acceptance of previous agreements and obligations, including the (Quartet-drafted and UN-adopted) road map." UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who attended the meeting, as well as US and European officials said it will probably take two to three months for a new Hamas government to form and take office, thus the Quartet was effectively giving Hamas a brief grace period in which to change its ways. Accordingly EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels on Monday (30 January) agreed to continue aid to the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) during the "grace period," but according to the conditions set by the Quartet. A statement released after their meeting read: "The [EU] Council expects the newly elected PLC [Palestinian Legislative Council] to support the formation of a government committed to a peaceful and negotiated solution of the conflict with Israel based on existing agreements and the Roadmap as well as to the rule of law, reform and sound fiscal management." "On this basis the European Union stands ready to continue to support Palestinian economic development and democratic state building," the ministers added. The Palestinian Authority will delay paying the January salaries of 137,000 government employees for at least two weeks as a World Bank report said the Authority's financial situation was becoming increasingly untenable as a result of ballooning public spending. The Palestinian Authority needs $116 million to cover the monthly payroll. After the election victory of Hamas, Israel said it was suspending its monthly tax transfers to the Palestinian Authority, worth about $45 million, pending further review. The Palestinian Authority will have to withhold the salaries, which were due yesterday, for at least two weeks while it tries to find alternative funding, said an official involved in negotiations with donor countries. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the talks on getting alternative funding were continuing. The United States and other foreign donors also threatened to withdraw aid to the Palestinian Authority if Hamas took power without renouncing violence and recognizing Israel. The Palestinian budget was already in trouble before the election because European donors stopped forwarding salary money in December after the government gave raises of up to 40 percent to its employees and added people to its already bloated payroll. The Palestinian Authority is perpetually in a financial crisis and has had to delay paying salaries in the past. But permanent aid cuts would force the government to lay off thousands of workers and could plunge Palestinian areas, already beset by violence and disorder, deeper into chaos. Mohammed Ishtayeh, a Palestinian Cabinet minister, said the government was in talks with Israel to try to persuade it to unfreeze the millions of dollars in tax rebates and customs payments it is withholding. They are also hoping to receive aid from Arab countries and persuade the World Bank to release $60 million in frozen aid. The World Bank withheld the aid in December because the Palestinians did not follow through on fiscal reform promises, the bank said. "We are working on more than one level to provide salaries this month," Ishtayeh said. The pressing need to ensure continued cash flow was highlighted in the World Bank report which said the Palestinian Authority's financial situation was becoming increasingly untenable as a result of ballooning public spending. The Washington-based institution said the budget deficit reached $800 million in 2005, threatening to destabilize government operations. Nearly half the deficit was financed by donors, according to the report. The Palestinian Authority accused Israel of practicing collective punishment in blocking funds owed to the Palestinians. Outgoing Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei said he was hopeful of finding alternative funding to meet the budget shortfall. "For Israel to freeze this money, is a form of collective punishment. We hope that Israel will release this money because it's our right," Qorei told reporters at the start of a Cabinet meeting. Western donors, led by the US and EU, funnel about $900 million to the Palestinians each year, most of it designated for reconstruction projects in the impoverished Gaza Strip and West Bank. The Palestinian economy is in tatters, with unemployment at 23 percent and some 43 percent of the population living in poverty. Israel's central bank governor urged the government to consider lifting a freeze on handing over tax revenue to the Palestinian Authority. Israel suspended a monthly payment of some $55 million, a main source of funding to the Palestinian Authority, after Hamas' election victory and the prospect of it joining a future Palestinian government. "I generally prefer to stand by the agreements we have signed with them (the Palestinian Authority)," Stanley Fischer, the bank governor, told Israel Radio. The Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas stressed his determination to assign the Islamic resistance movement, Hamas, to form a new government later, but he stressed the need of honoring "the Palestinian Authority obligations." He told a group of journalists in Gaza "I consider that the side is Hamas which will be assigned to form the government," and reflect the obligations indicated by the chairman of the Palestinian authority in the agreements of Oslo and the Roadmap. The Palestinian president explained that officially the Palestinian legislative council should convene its first session, take its oath and form the presidency of the council and then decision will be made: " I consider the side to be assigned to form the government is Hamas." President Mahmoud Abbas and leaders of the Islamic Resistance Movement "Hamas" agreed in Gaza City to convene the newly-elected Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) on February 16. Abbas and Hamas officials met in Gaza City and agreed to convene the parliament on February 16, as a first step toward forming a new Palestinian government after Hamas swept to a landslide victory in parliamentary elections on January 25. Outgoing Speaker of the PLC Rawhi Fattouh and new independent deputy Ziad Abu Amr joined Hamas leaders, Ismael Haniya and Mahmoud al-Zahhar, in the meeting with Abbas. The meeting at the presidential compound in Gaza City was the first face-to-face discussion between Abbas and senior Hamas leaders since the Islamic faction swept to victory in January 25. Abbas' spokesman Nabil Abu Rdainah confirmed that Hamas would be chosen to head a new government. "Hamas is the biggest parliament bloc and they will have to present a name to the president so that the president will ask him officially to form the government," Abu Rdainah said. Abbas did not speak to reporters after the meeting, but Hamas leaders did. "We agreed with the president (Abbas) to hold the first session of the Legislative Council on February 16," the number one candidate on the successful Hamas electoral list of "Change and Reform", Haniyeh, told journalists. Hamas says it wants to include a broad range of Palestinian factions in the new cabinet, but top Fatah leaders say they are not interested in joining. "We will start holding discussions, official and nonofficial, with different factions to discuss the entire government," said Haniya, who is considered likely to get one of the top government posts. "We have already discussed the necessity of working together." Al-Zahar and Haniya travelled to Egypt to hold talks with the external leadership of Hamas, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said. A Hamas three-man delegation, including Said Siam, Mohammed Shamaa and Nizar Awadallah visited Damascus to consult with the group's leader Khaled Mashaal. In London at the twice-yearly question-and-answer session before senior MPs at the House of Commons liaison committee the Prime Minister was asked by Mohammad Sarwar, Labour chair of the Scottish affairs committee, to comment on the Hamas electoral win in Palestine. "We have said we won't be able to have contact with a Hamas-led government unless it is clear that they are prepared to forswear that part of their constitution that says they want to get rid of the state of Israel and are prepared to embrace democratic means. If we don't have that it will stand in the way of us being able to help." Without engaging with the Palestinian government, we are saying we don't respect the democratic will of the people. What message are we sending? asks Mr Sarwar. If they want our help, both financial and otherwise, than the premise has to be a commitment to a two-state solution, explains Blair.