Hamas, Fatah officials to meet in Gaza 'in days'

A meeting will be held by the end of the week between Hamas and Fatah in Gaza to discuss outstanding topics for wrapping up the reconciliation deal, a Fatah official said Tuesday. Abdullah Abu Samhadaneh, a senior Fatah official in Gaza, said four issues to be discussed are passports, freedom of travel, political detainees, and reopening the Hamas and Fatah headquarters. He told Ma’an that lists of political detainees will be shown to a committee from both sides to check whether they are detained for political or criminal reasons. The ones who are detained over criminal issues will be put on trial. He added that Fatah’s list consists of 50 names in Gaza prisons. Regarding passports, he said Hamas is complaining that some of its members do not have passports. Abu Samhadaneh assured that passports are the same as IDs, meaning it is the right of every citizen to have one. He also said both sides will exchange lists of party-affiliated institutions which were closed during the respective periods of opposition control in Gaza and the West Bank. In Cairo last week President Mahmoud Abbas, who heads the Fatah party, and Hamas chief Khalid Mashaal approved a two-page document reiterating their commitment to the main elements of the original reconciliation deal, saying they would establish a joint government after elections in May 2012. Abbas said Monday he hoped elections would be held on May 4 next year. The two leaders of Palestine's top political factions were meeting for the first time since they signed a reconciliation deal in the Egyptian capital in May.