Mashaal’s talks were “serious and frank”

The Head of Fatah delegation to the reconciliation talks with Hamas Azzam al-Ahmad described the talks with the head of Hamas’s political bureau Khaled Mashaal, which took place in Cairo Wednesday as “serious and frank”, and discussed the progression and implementation of the Palestinian reconciliation pact. After the meeting which was attended by a number of Egyptian officials, al-Ahmed confirmed that the meeting to reactivate the Palestinian Liberation Organization PLO will be held in Cairo in February and will be headed by the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Al-Ahmed said in a press release to the Palestine News and Information Agency (WAFA) that the meeting aimed to monitor and address any problems and obstacles that may impede the implantation of reconciliation. He added that this meeting was held to ensure the execution of resolutions of a May 2011 reconciliation agreement signed between Fatah and Hamas, “the meeting discussed the reconciliation committees such as the Palestinian freedom committee and elections committee, as well as discussing the pending issues in the reconciliation such as the political prisoners and passports,” he said. Regarding resuming the Palestinian Israeli negotiations, Al-Ahmed stressed that the Palestinian Authority will not return to direct talks unless Israel agrees to full settlement freeze, including in East Jerusalem, and accepts the principle of the two-state solution based on 1967 borders.