Hamas, Fatah report progress as leaders spar

Hamas and Fatah officials reported progress in implementing the terms of their parties' reconciliation deal after a meeting in Gaza City on Saturday, despite leaders continuing to trade accusations over a new spat between the divided governments. Gaza premier Ismail Haniyeh said the Palestinian Central Elections Commission can begin operations in the coastal strip from Sunday, after meeting with delegates from the parties in Gaza City. Senior Hamas leader Khalil Al-Hayyah told reporters after the summit that Fatah representatives will be given custody over the presidential compound in Gaza City. Hamas will adhere to all decisions of the cross-factional public freedoms committee, he added. The parties have overcome the misunderstanding of last week, he said, referring to the apparent barring of Fatah, officials trying to enter the Gaza Strip, a charge denied by its Hamas rulers. Fatah Central Committee member Zakariyya Al-Agha reiterated his party's opposition to political detentions by both sides, and the allegation that Gaza citizens were denied access to passports. Abbas: I did not block Haniyeh tour Despite the apparent progress in the tenets of the May 2011 deal to end four years of separate governments and bitter rivalry, party leaders dove into a fresh row over the Gaza premier's recent world tour. Haniyeh said after his first international visit outside the coastal enclave since 2007 that Palestinian Authority officials contacted various countries in the region to ask them not host him. The Tunisian president rejected the request in a reply to Fatah chief President Mahmoud Abbas, Gaza-based daily Palestine Today on Thursday. A presidential spokesman told official PA news site on Saturday: "These claims are not true, and didn’t even cross the President’s mind at all." "It seems that Haniyeh lives under illusions which have no explanation apart from his own intentions and determination to disturb the atmosphere of the reconciliation," he added. The Gaza premier toured Egypt, Sudan, Turkey and Tunisia, and told reporters in Gaza that he had made important agreements during the tour to support the Palestinian cause and was ready to visit other Arab and Islamic countries.