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Factions postpone cairo peace talks Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1109475189001http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1109475189001
Feb. 28, 2005 1:20 | Updated Feb. 28, 2005 8:00
Factions postpone Cairo truce talks
By KHALED ABU TOAMEH
A planned meeting between representatives of several Palestinian factions to discuss a cease-fire with Israel has been postponed until mid-March, Palestinian Authority officials in Ramallah said Sunday.
The meeting was supposed to be held in Cairo on March 5 but was delayed in the aftermath of Friday night's suicide attack in Tel Aviv, the officials told The Jerusalem Post.
Meanwhile, PA officials denied that Hizbullah was behind the attack, and a top security official in the Gaza Strip even went as far as claiming that the Mossad had masterminded the bombing.
Hamas and Islamic Jihad representatives were expected to participate in the Cairo talks, sponsored by the Egyptian government to try to persuade the two groups to agree to a formal cease-fire with Israel.
PA National Security Adviser Jibril Rajoub said the talks had been postponed until March 15 for various reasons, including the fact that Islamic Jihad had claimed responsibility for the attack.
He said Israel's decision to ban representatives of Islamic Jihad from leaving the Gaza Strip was one of the reasons behind the delay, adding that the PA needed more time to clarify their final positions regarding the proposed cease-fire with the factions.
Rajoub visited Cairo over the weekend to prepare for the intra-Palestinian discussions and held talks with the Egyptian foreign minister and the head of Egyptian intelligence.
A top official in Ramallah said PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas met on Saturday night with a senior Egyptian official to discuss the latest developments surrounding the planned talks between the factions.
According to the official, the Egyptian emissary, whose identity was not revealed, told Abbas that, in the wake of Friday's terror attack, there was no choice but to postpone the Cairo parley.
In Gaza City, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhari confirmed that his movement had been told that the Cairo talks would be delayed "until a better atmosphere is created to ensure the success of the meeting." He said that for the talks to succeed, Israel must meet the conditions set by the Palestinian factions, including a cessation of targeted killings and military incursions, as well as the release of all Palestinian prisoners held in Israel.
Abu Zuhari said the Cairo meeting would focus not only on the cease-fire, but on domestic issues such as reforms and fighting corruption.
He said it was not clear at this stage if a Hamas delegation from the West Bank and Gaza Strip would attend the talks in the Egyptian capital because the movement did not have guarantees that Israel would allow its members to return home.
Meanwhile, the PA has backed down from accusing Hizbullah of orchestrating the Tel Aviv attack.
PA security officials claimed on Saturday that Hizbullah was behind the attack in a bid to undermine Abbas and sabotage the peace process. They even claimed that the PA had "sufficient evidence" pointing to Hizbullah's responsibility.
But Minister of Planning Ghassan Khatib denied the charges, saying the PA had made no official accusation against any party.
"The Palestinian president and interior minister have talked about the bad repercussions and timing of the attack and have noted that the only ones to benefit from it are the Israeli right-wing extremists," Khatib said.
"No Palestinian official has made any accusation against any party," he added. "But whoever carried out this attack caused damage to the national interests of the Palestinians."
Legislator Abu Ali Shahin also denied that the PA had accused Hizbullah of orchestrating the attack. He said that he met with Abbas on Saturday and did not hear from him a word about Hizbullah's alleged involvement.
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