Spokesman of the Palestinian Fatah movement Ahmed Abdel Rahman
urged on Sunday the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), which will
form a new Palestinian government within weeks, to accept previous
deals with Israel including the interim peace agreements.
Abdel Rahman told local radio "Voice of Palestine" that the
Hamas vision for the future Palestinian government "lacked
politics" since it failed to give a clear acceptance to agreements
reached by the Palestinians and Israel in the past, including the
interim peace agreements dubbed the Oslo Accords.
Abdel Rahman made the statement after Hamas prime
minister-designate Ismail Haneya presented a letter to President
Mahmoud Abbas, who now leads Fatah, on Friday to detail Hamas'
future government platform and latest efforts to form a Hamas-led
new Palestinian government.
Abdel Rahman stressed that the Palestinian people's interests
were directly linked with the internationally-sponsored interim
peace deals, warning "any party assuming the authoritative power
cannot jump over this fact."
A copy of the Hamas government platform said, "The future
Hamas-led cabinet will deal with the reality resulted from the
previous accords reached between the Palestinian (National)
Authority and Israel."
"The new government has the right to reconsider these accords on
the basis of respecting the international law and implementing its
text to protect the rights and interests of the Palestinian
people," it added.
"If Israel recognizes the Palestinian national rights and
withdraws from all the Palestinian territories occupied in 1967
including the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem, we will
examine a mechanism for negotiations," according to the
platform.
Abbas has demanded Hamas to open peace talks with Israel and
accept interim peace deals in the Feb. 22 accreditation letter,
which formally tasked Haneya with forming a new government.
Hamas, sworn to Israel's destruction, has refused to renounce
violence and abide by previous Palestinian-Israeli agreements.
Considering the Hamas platform too vague, Abbas has urged Hamas
to clarify its positions.
The interim peace deals have envisioned a negotiated solution to
the decades-long Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
(Xinhua News Agency March 13, 2006)