Palestinian factions sign Yemen deal

Hamas and Fatah will renew direct talks, in accordance with a Yemeni reconciliation initiative, on April 5th, a senior Hamas official said today after both sides signed a deal in Sanaa to resume a dialogue.

The official said the first round of negotiations would be held in the Palestinian territories.

The deal, which was signed by top Hamas negotiator Moussa Abu Marzouk and senior Fatah official Azzam al-Ahmed, also affirmed the "unity of the Palestinian people, territory and authority".

The talks, launched last week by Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, had come close to collapse several times. Saleh had pressed the two sides to agree to hold direct talks in early April on the plan that calls for the Gaza Strip to return to the way it was before Hamas seized the area in June after routing Fatah forces.

The issue of the future of Gaza has been a main point of contention, with Fatah demanding that Hamas Islamists give up control of the territory.

A Hamas official said yesterday the group asked that the same should apply to the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority has dismissed a Hamas-led government and arrested some Hamas supporters.

The Yemeni plan also envisages Palestinian elections, the creation of another unity government and the reform of Palestinian security forces along national rather than factional lines. Fatah had said it would agree to direct reconciliation talks with Hamas only if the Islamist group first agreed to relinquish its hold on Gaza, home to 1.5 million Palestinians.

© 2008 ireland.com