The radical Hamas group has been given a boost after the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine announced it was willing to join the Hamas-led coalition government.
By
AFP

Source:
AFP
29 May 2006 - 12:00 AM  UPDATED 22 Aug 2013 - 12:18 PM

The announcement came as tensions between Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas and the Islamist group intensified after Mr Abbas brushed aside protests from Hamas and pledged to push through with his plan for a referendum.

The PFLP, which holds three seats in the 132-member parliament, refused to join the Hamas government in March over Hamas's failure to recognise the supremacy of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), headed by Mr Abbas.

But on Sunday the leftist group said it was ready to enter government after Hamas agreed on the restructuring of the PLO.

"The PFLP is ready to join the Hamas government and open a dialogue to find a mechanism for entering the government," Nasser el-Qafaunar, a member of the group's politburo said.

Mr Abbas, who hosted a meeting with representatives of Palestinian factions on Sunday evening, said he was not prepared for the bickering between the governing Hamas movement and his own Fatah party to continue for much longer.

The Palestinian Authority president dropped a political bombshell last
Thursday at the start of cross-party talks between Hamas and Fatah.

Mr Abbas announced that he would call a referendum in 10 days to endorse what amounts to the recognitions of Israel’s right to exist, unless the factions settled their differences.

The talks ended on Friday evening without any major breakthrough although there was an agreement to set up a "higher committee" to intensify efforts to reach common ground.

The two factions have been involved in a series of deadly clashes in recent weeks that have left at least 10 people dead.

The document at the centre of the possible referendum advocates a national unity government and Palestinian state in the Gaza Strip and West Bank, including east Jerusalem.

Poll supports plan

During their talks on Sunday, the sides agreed to discuss the details of the document article by article in an effort to bridge differences and carry on meeting daily until Mr Abbas's ultimatum expires.

An opinion poll released by the Ramallah-based Near East Consulting found a massive 89 percent of the public supported the plan.

It was drawn up earlier this month by senior figures in all factions, including Fatah and Hamas, who are currently serving time in Israeli prisons.

Were Hamas to accept the document, it would amount to an implicit recognition of Israel's right to exist.

Interior minister Siad Siam reflected a sense of anger within Hamas over Mr Abbas's tactics warning against trying to impose any solution.

"We have always supported any initiative to alleviate the suffering of the Palestinian people but not the imposition of other people's opinions and a special agenda," Mr Siam told reporters.

Mr Abbas however said he would act as he saw fit rather than bow to the will of the factions.

"I speak in the name of all the Palestinian people and what's important for me is the position of all the Palestinian people, not the parties," he told AFP on a tour through Ramallah which saw him visit victims of a recent Israeli army raid in hospital.

While Mr Abbas is committed to negotiating a peace agreement with Israel, Hamas remains committed to the Jewish state's destruction -- a stance which has seen it boycotted and branded a terrorist organisation by the West.

The cuts in aid, allied to an Israeli decision to stop handing over customs duties that it used to collect on behalf of the Palestinian Authority, have left the government essentially bankrupt and unable to pay its employees.

Hamas and Fatah are also at loggerheads over control of the security forces which are meant to be the remit of Abbas as Palestinian Authority president and are stuffed with Fatah supporters.