Mohammed Mar'i Saudi Gazette RAMALLAH – A senior Fatah official Monday said that President Mahmoud Abbas would meet Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi for talks including the Palestinian national reconciliation. Azzam Al-Ahmed, a member of Fatah Central Committee and head of its team to Cairo reconciliation talks with Hamas, said that the leaders will meet in the Egypt's capital Wednesday. Al-Ahmed said that the two leaders “will discuss the files of reconciliation, the bilateral relations and the political steps for the upcoming stage.” He added that the meeting will “determine the next genuine steps to end the internal Palestinian split.” The Fatah official said that “no meeting between President Abbas and Hamas Politburo Chief Khaled Mish'al will be organized during the Cairo visit.” On Sunday, the jailed Fatah leader Marwan Al-Barghouthi called for a “Palestinian Spring” to force Fatah and Hamas to end their dispute and achieve unity. He also expressed opposition to disbanding the Palestinian Authority and called for a comprehensive review of its performance and duties. Al-Barghouthi, 53, who is serving five life terms in Israeli prison for his role in military attacks against Israel during the second intifada, called on Palestinians to launch widespread protests in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip to force Hamas and Fatah to end their dispute. “I call on the Palestinian people and youth to take the initiative to impose unity,” Al-Barghouthi said in a letter from his Israeli prison of Hadarim. “I call on them to take to the streets in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and the Diaspora and protest in front of the offices of the Palestinian factions and leaderships until the end of the division.” Palestinians should not wait for Egypt or any other country for reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah, he said. “We need reconciliation now and without delay,” he stressed. Al-Barghouthi criticized his Fatah faction for failing to hold internal elections and reforms. He pointed out that the last municipal elections in the West Bank showed that Fatah was still weak and confused. Hamas and Fatah have pledged to work hard to end their differences in the aftermath of Israeli aggression and the UN General Assembly vote in favor of upgrading the Palestinians' status to nonmember observer state. Following November's aggression on Gaza Strip, several Fatah officials, including Nabil Sha'ath of the movement's Central Committee, took part in “victory” celebrations organized by Hamas and Islamic Jihad. On December, the Palestinian Authority allowed Hamas to hold its 25th anniversary in the West Bank for the first time since five years as sign of rapprochement between the rival parties. The Hamas government, in the meantime, allowed Fatah to mark its 48th anniversary in Gaza Strip. In May, Fatah and Hamas signed a reconciliation deal in Cairo to end around five years of internal division. The split widened in 2007, when Hamas, which won the parliamentary elections in 2006, routed forces loyal to Abbas and took over Gaza. Since then, representatives of the two movements held several meetings abroad but failed to resolve the obstacles blocking its implementation, particularly the formation of interim government, the obstacle of the new prime minister, the issues of passports and the political detainees.
