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| By: Associated Press |
| Published: October 5, 2006 |
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Early elections might be the solution to the Palestinian stalemate, which has defied Egyptian attempts to broker a government of national unity, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said in remarks published Thursday.
"A high-ranking Egyptian security delegation is in Gaza and is contacting the various Palestinian groups to try to stop the bloodshed," Mubarak said in an interview with the editor of the weekly newspaper Al-Osboa, Mustafa Bakri. Extracts from the interview, due to be published Sunday, were carried by Egypt's official Middle East News Agency.
Dozens of Palestinians have been killed in recent fighting between supporters of the two main parties, Fatah and Hamas. Fatah holds the Palestinian presidency and Hamas dominates the government.
After Hamas won the Palestinian elections in January and took over the government, Western powers cut off aid to the Palestinian Authority because of the party's refusal to recognize Israel and renounce violence. The result has meant thousands of Palestinian civil servants have not received their salaries for months, leading to mass demonstrations and street battles.
Attempts to form a coalition government have foundered on Hamas' refusal to change its position on Israel.
"Egypt made a great effort to achieve the formation of a Palestinian national unity government, but this effort was thwarted by Palestinian disagreements," Mubarak said.
"Palestinian efforts could lead to new elections for the legislative council as a way out of the current crisis," the Egyptian president said.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has considered calling new elections, but an opinion poll on Tuesday indicated that Fatah would tie with Hamas if a vote was held now. The poll also indicated that voters consider Abbas less trustworthy than Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas.
Hamas thrashed Fatah in the January elections, winning 74 out of the 132 seats. |
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