Palestinian peace talks only deferred, not collapsed

Dubai: While senior officials from Hamas and Fatah traded accusations and blame for the postponement of the reconciliation talks that were supposed to start Monday in Cairo, they seemed to agree to not refer to the "collapse" of the talks.

Coincidentally, they also believe the time is ripe to solve their internal problems as the United States, the main sponsor of the peace process, is passing through a transition.

"Nobody wants to use the word collapse," Nimr Hamad, political adviser to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said in an interview with Gulf News.

"The talks have not started to fail," Mousa Abu Marzouk, deputy head of Hamas, said. "They were postponed."

He added that Egypt is working to provide the elements needed for their success.

The cancelled meeting was expected to tackle several issues, many of which were included in the Egyptian proposal: forming a transitional government and reforming the Palestinian security services overseen by Arab experts.

Other issues include setting a date for presidential and legislative elections.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmad Abul Gaith told reporters on Sunday that Egypt's plan must remain the basis for unity talks.

"There can be no abandoning the Egyptian paper," Abul Gaith was quoted as saying after a meeting of the Middle East peace Quartet in Sharm Al Shaikh.

"Egypt exerted efforts. It made a proposal and presented it to the factions for discussion. It was apparent in the last few days there was no political will yet," he said.

Fatah officials noted later on Sunday that both groups might resume their talks within 10 days.

Hamas announced on Saturday its boycott of the Cairo talks after Fatah continued arresting Hamas activists in the West Bank despite even though Hamas released all "Fatah political prisoners they were holding" in the Gaza Strip.

Fatah denied the charges, saying it holds people "for security or criminal reasons".

Hamad accused Hamas of "exaggeration", saying some names Hamas included "were never arrested" - a claim Hamas denies.

Some Fatah leaders also accused Hamas of being the target of influence by "regional powers" - without naming any - to be used as bargaining chips with the new US administration.

Abu Marzouk described these accusations as "baseless and irresponsible".

"Hamas is an independent movement and takes its decisions according to Palestinian interests," he said. "If anyone has influence on it, it should be the Egyptians," Abu Marzouk told Gulf News.

When Abu Marzouk accused Fatah of betting on the US, Hamad replied that was because Washington is the party with the "most influence on Israel," and that the Palestinian leadership has been insisting on demanding an independent state with Jerusalem as its capital.

Timing

Notably, both groups believe this is the best time to solve all Palestinian differences.

"The US administration being pre-occupied [with the power transition] provides a "good chance to open all files away from American pressure," Abu Marzouk said.

"The Palestinian problem won't be a priority for the new US administration," he added in reference to other pressing issues for Washington, mainly the international financial crisis.

"The Palestinian leadership has been calling for dialogue and stressing the importance of its success," Hamad said.

He feels that the US elections and the political developments in Israel could provide a good chance for a dialogue with the aim of discussing all "disputed issues".