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The Palestinian Hamas and Fatah have called off top-level talks on forming a Palestinian coalition government that might ease crippling international sanctions. (AP file)
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| By Associated Press September 26, 2006 |
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Rivals Hamas and Fatah called off top-level talks on forming a Palestinian coalition government that might ease crippling international sanctions, the latest difficulty in bridging formidable ideological differences.
With the Palestinians stuck, another channel for Mideast progress appeared to open when Israeli media reported Monday that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had a secret meeting with a senior official from Saudi Arabia. Both sides predictably denied the reports, as they have no official relations.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, the moderate head of Fatah, postponed his planned trip to Gaza on Tuesday for coalition talks with Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas.
Senior Palestinian officials said the meeting was called off because Abbas was angered by Hamas officials who accused him of withholding money he controls from the Palestinian people. Instead, he plans to send Rauhi Fatouh, a former Palestinian parliament speaker, to negotiate on his behalf in talks with Haniyeh, which might be held as early as Tuesday, Palestinian officials said.
Since a Hamas government took office last March, a cutoff of Western aid has brought the Palestinian Authority to its knees, leaving most public sector workers without pay for months and shutting down vital projects. Israel and the West hope to pressure the Islamic Hamas to recognize Israel, renounce violence and accept previous peace accords.
Hamas, whose suicide bombers have killed hundreds of Israelis, has refused to bend its main goal -- an Islamic Middle East without a Jewish state. Broadening the government to include Fatah, which favors peacemaking, could provide a way to bridge the ideological impasse, by entrusting negotiations with Israel to Abbas.
In the meantime, Hamas and Fatah hope, a so-called unity government would allow the flow of international funds to resume.
A preliminary coalition agreement the two sides reached earlier this month is based on a platform calling for a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza. Some say that implicitly accepts Israel next door, without stating the recognition.
In related news, acting Palestinian Finance Minister Samir Aishe said the Palestinian Authority would pay a full monthly salary of $400 to nearly 40 percent of civil servants on Tuesday or Wednesday. Other employees will receive full or partial salaries in the next two to three days, he said.
The wages will be paid from recently transferred contributions by Qatar and Saudi Arabia, which totaled $65 million, Abu Aishe said. Civil service salaries are vital because they provide for one-third of the Palestinian population.
The prospect of a new front in peace moves emerged Monday after Israeli media reported that Olmert met a senior Saudi official. Saudi Arabia won praise from Olmert for its measured stance during the recent Israel-Hezbollah war, and it has recently revived a peace initiative based on pan-Arab acceptance of Israel in exchange for an Israeli withdrawal from all of the West Bank and east Jerusalem.
The Yediot Ahronot daily reported that Olmert and an unidentified top Saudi official met 10 days ago. The talks focused on Iran's nuclear program and the need to achieve peace between Israel and the Palestinians, the newspaper said.
The Israeli daily Haaretz later reported that the meeting took place on Sept. 13, and Israel's Army Radio said the talks were held in the royal palace in Riyadh.
Olmert replied somewhat cryptically. "I did not meet with the Saudi king and I did not meet with anyone who should cause a media stir," Olmert told Yediot's Ynet Web site later Monday. "I didn't hold any meetings with anyone. All the rest is just imagination and speculation."
A Saudi official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, called the reports of a meeting "a figment of their imagination."
Also Monday, an Israeli military court ruled that 21 Hamas legislators and Cabinet ministers would remain in Israeli custody, reversing an earlier ruling. Israel rounded up dozens of Hamas officials after Hamas-linked militants captured an Israeli soldier in a cross-border raid from Gaza in late June.
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