Palestinian Unity Talks Frozen

President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh attend a meeting of the two main Palestinian factions in Gaza City on Monday. (AFP)

Hisham Abu Taha, Arab News

GAZA CITY, 21 November 2006 — Talks on forming a Palestinian unity government have been suspended and no new meetings were set for other negotiations, an aide to President Mahmoud Abbas said yesterday. This is the latest setback in long drawn-out efforts by the rival Hamas and Fatah movements to establish a coalition acceptable to the West.

Abbas aide Nabil Amr told a press conference in the West Bank city of Ramallah that talks in Gaza reached unconvincing results and much work remained to be done. “We would say talks are suspended now. What we have agreed upon is only the first mile over a 1,000-mile road,” he said.

It wasn’t clear whether the suspension was the sign of a real crisis or simply a negotiating tactic by Abbas’ weakened Fatah party.

Abbas has been pushing Hamas to enter a unity government in hopes of ending an international aid boycott against the Palestinian government. The sanctions were imposed after Hamas defeated the more moderate Fatah in legislative elections early this year, putting the Islamist group in control of the Palestinian Parliament and Cabinet while the moderate Abbas retained his position as president.

After months of negotiations, participants had reported progress in recent days, raising hopes that a deal was near. In a breakthrough, the sides agreed on a candidate for prime minister, settling last week on a US-educated professor who has good relations with Hamas and Fatah.

Abbas has met repeatedly over the last week with Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas to discuss the distribution of government portfolios between their parties, most recently a late-night session that ended early yesterday.

Fatah officials have accused Hamas of being unreasonable in demanding control over the powerful finance and interior ministries. The next finance minister would be in charge of persuading the international community to resume aid, while the interior minister oversees security forces.

After Amr’s announcement, Hamas officials quickly denied any serious trouble, raising the possibility that Fatah had stepped away as a negotiating tactic.

“I want to reassure our people that the negotiations are continuing and they have not been halted,” Haniyeh said. “Talks are continuing on the highest levels.”

Still, negotiators described serious differences. “We must not fool anyone. There were stumbling blocks at the last minute,” said Nabil Abu Rudeina, a spokesman for Abbas.

Negotiators said the main committee working on the division of Cabinet portfolios had stopped meeting.

Abbas, who was elected separately, hopes the emergence of a unity government will help end international sanctions and allow him to restart peace talks with Israel.

Israel and Western donors have demanded Hamas renounce violence, recognize Israel’s right to exist and accept past peace agreements. Hamas, which is committed to Israel’s destruction despite its stated offer of a long-term truce, rejects the conditions.

Under the emerging coalition deal, the current Hamas-led government would be replaced with a Cabinet of independent experts. The government would focus on domestic issues, like education and road building, while Abbas would be responsible for dealing with Israel.

Relations with Israel have deteriorated since Hamas took office, especially after Hamas-linked fighters captured an Israeli soldier in a crossborder raid last June.

Israel has been carrying out a military offensive in the Gaza Strip since the capture, while Palestinians continue to fire homemade rockets into southern Israel.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour kicked off a five-day trip to the region yesterday, assuring residents of an embattled Palestinian neighborhood in Gaza “that the world has not abandoned them.”

Arbour began her visit with a tour of a residential neighborhood in Beit Hanoun, where 19 members of an extended family were killed this month in an errant Israeli artillery attack. A large crowd quickly gathered around Arbour, showing her pictures of dead and wounded relatives and calling for punishment of Israeli soldiers responsible for the attack.

Meanwhile, Israeli bulldozers tore through nearby fields that the Israeli Army said are used by fighters to fire rockets.

The Israeli operation took place in another part of town, and did not directly affect Arbour’s visit.

In nearby Beit Lahiya, dozens of residents crowded around the home of a Hamas fighter to prevent Israel from carrying out an airstrike on the building.

The crowd volunteered to serve as a human shield after the homeowner received an order from the army that it planned to destroy the site, residents said. It was the third time in recent days that a Palestinian crowd has forced the army to call off an airstrike.

Despite the ongoing Israeli crackdown, Palestinian fighters fired a total of seven rockets yesterday. No injuries were reported. Last week, an Israeli woman was killed in a rocket attack.