05 July 2013

BEIRUT: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Thursday he was ready for reconciliation talks with rivals Hamas, hinting that the Islamist group may be more amenable to compromise after developments in Egypt and Qatar.

He insisted that Palestinians adopt a neutral stance toward the uprisings sweeping the region, in an apparent swipe at Hamas, which sided with rebels fighting against the regime of President Bashar Assad in Syria.

“There is no doubt that the Arab Spring, or what is called the Arab Spring, has affected the Palestinian cause,” Abbas said in a gathering with reporters near the end of a three-day visit to Lebanon. “[But] we absolutely do not interfere in their issues.”

Abbas said Hamas faced difficulties recently due to what could be termed “unclear policies,” saying its relationship with Arab countries, such as Syria, was affected as a result.

He said that Hezbollah’s intervention in Syria was an internal issue for the Lebanese to decide.

“The resistance is a Lebanese issue,” he said. “The resistance goes to [the Syrian town of] Qusair or goes somewhere else, that is a Lebanese issue. It’s not my business.”

Hamas vacated its offices in Damascus shortly after the start of the uprising and sided with the Syrian rebels. It faced a setback this week after the Muslim Brotherhood-led government in Egypt, traditionally close to Hamas, was toppled by the army.

When asked whether the difficulties Hamas was facing in the region could be helpful in inducing it toward reconciliation talks, Abbas said: “Consider it helpful.”Still, the Palestinian president said he was ready for reconciliation talks with his rivals to end an “embarrassing era” for the Palestinians.

“Without unity we cannot have a state,” he said.

Hamas and Fatah clashed in 2007, nearly two years after legislative elections gave Hamas a powerful role in the Palestinian government. The fighting resulted in a split of the West Bank, ruled by Fatah, and the Gaza Strip, run by Hamas.

Abbas said he was ready to immediately call free and fair legislative and presidential elections and to appoint a technocratic Cabinet if there was progress in the talks.

His visit to Lebanon comes shortly after the launch of a new initiative by the U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to restart peace talks between the Palestinians and the Israelis.

In addition, gunmen from the Taamir area on the outskirts of the Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp in Sidon were involved in a shoot-out with Lebanese Army troops last week.

Ain al-Hilweh is one of the largest refugee camps in the region. Abbas insisted that Palestinians did not take part in the fighting in Sidon, which pitted the Army against firebrand cleric Sheikh Ahmad Assir.

He also reiterated that Palestinian factions should not get involved in Lebanese politics. “We are temporary guests under the law, not above it,” he said.

On the negotiations with Israel, Abbas struck a defiant tone, saying that if Jerusalem is not the capital of Palestine, “there will be no solution.”

Negotiations between the Palestinians and Israel have been stalled for years over the status of settlements in the West Bank and the fate of Jerusalem. Some have argued that the settlements in the Palestinian territories are so diffuse as to make a two-state solution unrealistic.

But Abbas rejected the possibility of a one-state solution that incorporates Israelis and Palestinians, adding that he would not accept the “reality on the ground” of Israeli settlements. “There is no substitute solution,” he said.

Responding to a question on whether he should adopt the option of armed resistance, Abbas said he rejected the concept, saying the second intifada and successive conflicts, including Israel’s onslaught on Gaza in 2009, damaged Palestinian interests and relations with key patrons like Egypt.

“I cannot wield a slogan and endanger my country,” he said. “I will not be an adventurer.” He added that he embraced “popular, peaceful resistance.”

Abbas said the Palestinian factions in Lebanon do not need to be armed, saying they had the protection of the Lebanese authorities and people.

Earlier on Thursday, Abbas expressed hope that U.S.-led efforts to revive peace talks with Israel would generate positive results.

“The Americans have volunteered [to restart negotiations] and they are serious about it and we hope they will succeed and bring the views between the two sides closer,” Abbas told reporters in Beirut following a meeting with Speaker Nabih Berri.

Before visiting Berri, Abbas held separate meeting with caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, and Prime Minister-designate Tammam Salam.

Abbas, accompanied by caretaker Labor Minister Salim Jreissati, drove to nearby Martyrs Square where he laid a wreath at the Martyrs memorial.

He sent a message Thursday congratulating Egypt’s new interim president, Adly Mansour, after he was sworn in. Abbas praised the role of the Egyptian army in “preserving Egypt’s security” and the role of the Egyptian people in “rising to save Egypt.”

Copyright The Daily Star 2013.