Hamas, Fatah urged to end rift

Cairo: Egypt urged all Palestinian factions on Thusday to work on ending their internal chasm in reconciliation talks aimed at pushing rivals Hamas and Fatah to form an interim unity government.

"Your people are looking forward to seeing the beginning of your unity," said Gen Omar Sulaiman, Egypt's intelligence head, in nationally televised comments on Thursday.

Distrust between the groups runs deep after a power struggle including Hamas' violent takeover of Gaza in 2007, leaving Fatah in charge of only the West Bank.

Tensions escalated further after Israel's three-week offensive in Gaza, designed to stop Hamas rocket fire into southern Israel.

Hamas claimed the government of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas ran a Gaza spy ring that fed Israel information about Hamas targets during the offensive that ended on January 18.

Abbas' Fatah accused Hamas of killing and wounding dozens of Fatah activists under the cover of the war.

Previous reconciliation talks fell apart in November when Hamas pulled out at the last minute after a dispute with Fatah over releasing Hamas prisoners.

On Tuesday, Fatah agreed to release 42 Hamas detainees in the West Bank in a goodwill gesture ahead of the talks and promised to release more in the future. At a news conference on Wednesday night in Cairo, both sides announced they had agreed on a release of detainees but there was no information on how many detainees would be freed.

Sulaiman said negotiating committees for the two sides would meet again on March 8 to continue work on forming an interim unity government.

A senior Egyptian official said Egypt hopes that both groups manage to form a national unity government by April.

He spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorised to speak to the media.

The five negotiating committees are in charge of discussing arrangements to form an interim government, hold presidential and legislative elections, restructure the security services, merge Hamas into the Fatah-run Palestine Liberation Organisation and goodwill gestures including the release of detainees in the prisons of both Fatah and Hamas. Egypt is hosting an important Gaza Reconstruction conference on March 2 and a power-sharing deal between Hamas and Fatah is seen as key to moving ahead with the reconstruction.

The international community shuns the violently anti-Israel Hamas and won't send money directly to it.

The Palestinians hope to raise $2.8 billion (Dh10.2 billion) at Monday's conference, where the US is expected to pledge $900 million.

In a separate effort, Egyptian mediators are trying to reach a more permanent truce between Israel and Hamas to replace a shaky cease-fire that ended last month's offensive.

Ramallah Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad is asking donor countries to channel hundreds of millions in expected aid for Gaza "first and foremost" through his government.

Fayyad's request is part of a 53-page report he presented to donors ahead of a pledging conference for Gaza next week.

Gaza's Hamas rulers are not invited to the conference. Instead, the Palestinians will be represented by Fayyad, a US-backed moderate and Hamas rival.

The document says that of nearly $2.8 billion (2.2 billion euros) in requested aid, $1.326 (1 billion euros) are for reconstruction and $1.45 billion (1.1 billion euros) for budget support.

Donors have not yet decided who should lead reconstruction.