Hamas strongman accuses Palestinian president of derailing unity pact between rival factions

[King_David]

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas is not serious about reconciling with political rival Hamas despite public statements to the contrary, a senior Hamas official said in an interview published Wednesday.

The official, Mahmoud Zahar, said Abbas “is not interested in achieving” a deal with Hamas, allegedly because the U.S. and Israel oppose it.

“Reconciliation will not be achieved at all,” Zahar told the London-based daily Asharq al-Awsat.

Abbas and Hamas’ supreme leader, Khaled Mashaal, met last week to try to move head with a reconciliation deal they reached in principle in May. After their meeting, the two leaders said they opened a new page in relations and narrowed their differences. It was their first serious sitdown since Hamas wrested the Gaza Strip from Abbas in a violent takeover in 2007.

Earlier this week, Abbas moved a step further, setting May 4 as the date for elections that are to be held as part of the reconciliation agreement.

However, it remains unclear whether Abbas is engaged in political maneuvering or serious about the deal, which could prompt a Western backlash, including political isolation and possible cuts in foreign funding of Abbas’ West Bank-based Palestinian Authority.

Zahar, a Hamas strongman, was a key figure in the 2007 Gaza takeover. He was not part of the Hamas delegation of that accompanied Mashaal to Cairo for his meeting with Abbas last week.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle-east/hamas-strongman-accuses-palestinian-president-of-derailing-unity-pact-between-rival-factions/2011/11/30/gIQA5oObBO_story.html

[vminfla]

1. Don't you just hate it when the kids can't get along n/t

[bemildred]

2. I was wondering if Zahar would share the warm-puppy feeling that Haniyeh had.

I have never had the impression that Haniyeh's opinion counted for much politically, he's like a news-reader or something, a talking head. What happens to him when the Syrian gov't falls should be interesting too, he may need someplace to go.

[bemildred]

3. Iran threatening to cut Hamas funds, arms supply if it flees Syria

Iran had applied intense pressure to Hamas in an effort to persuade it not to leave Damascus, threatening even to cut off funds to the organization if it did so, Palestinian sources have told Haaretz.

The Iranian pressure also included an unprecedented ultimatum - namely, an explicit threat to stop supplying Hamas with arms and suspend the training of its military activists.

According to the sources, Hamas is abandoning its headquarters in Syria and looking at other Arab states as an alternative location for its political command center. Hamas' move comes despite intense Iranian pressure on the organization to refrain from relocating.

A Syrian opposition spokesman said recently that once Assad is toppled, his successors will have no intention of preserving the strategic alliance between Damascus, Tehran and Hezbollah.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/iran-threatening-to-cut-hamas-funds-arms-supply-if-it-flees-syria-1.399612