The Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hosam Zaki said "minimum trust" is a must for the success of the upcoming round of Egyptian-sponsored inter-Palestinian unity talks, which is to be held in Cairo Sunday.
In an interview with Xinhua earlier this week, Zaki said "it is not necessary for them (the Palestinian factions) to reach an agreement on all items but they should have minimum trust."
The inter-Palestinian talks to date have been frequently haunted by an exchange of crackdowns on their respective dissidents either in Hamas-ruled Gaza or in the Fatah-dominated West Bank.
Though Fatah and Hamas, two mainstream factions in Palestinian territories, have agreed to clear the atmosphere for the Cairo-hosted dialogue, mutual arrests and mutual media campaigns have frayed the remaining trust ever since as the two sides tried to get an upper hand in the ensuing negotiations.
Zaki said that Egypt is trying to rebuild trust between the Palestinian rivals through holding rounds of talks in Cairo, "Otherwise, they will play into the hands of Israel which wants to achieve its goals."
As for the outcome of the Cairo-hosted talks, he said that it is hard to predict the results of the talks between Palestinian factions and Egypt is not sure if it will be the last.
However, "Egypt is patient, we can wait, if they have the intention to reach an agreement," he added.
Hamas leaders in Gaza has hinted at extending the Islamic movement's term in the Palestinian parliament if no agreement is reached with rival Fatah movement in their unity talks.
On the other hand, Fatah has demanded Egypt to amend the proposal of forming a national committee to liaise between the West Bank government and rival Hamas' administration in the Gaza Strip by giving Abbas more influence in the Gaza Strip.
Instead of forming a comprehensive unity government that will be in charge of both Gaza and the West Bank with substantial clout, Zaki said that the Palestinian talks should focus on particular aims.
"This round of talks between Palestinian factions should agree on establishing a new Palestinian government to lead the interior tasks until performing elections in January 2010," he added.
Hamas has proposed last Monday a "government of tasks," which would not deal with any political issue. But the idea was snubbed by Fatah, which is backed by the West.
"The agreement on performing the presidential and legislative elections by January 2010 is very important," Zaki said.
On March 15, the Palestinian committee in charge of the issue of elections reached an agreement at the second round of talks to hold two elections at the same time no later than Jan. 25, 2010.
The last legislative election in Palestinian territories was held in February 2006, when Hamas won and formed a government led by Ismail Haneya. But the movement launched a coup and took control of Gaza after its administration was sacked by Abbas for its defiance of deals made earlier between Fatah-led government and Israel.
"The Palestinians are waiting for the factions to accomplish an agreement," Zaki said.
(Xinhua News Agency April 27, 2009)
