Hamas rejects Abbas' plans to hold elections

Islamic Hamas movement on Thursday rejected Palestinian National Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' intention to suggest general elections as a prelude to end Palestinian internal division. "This is an attempt to evade the reconciliation agreement," said Mahmoud Zahar, a Hamas leader in Gaza, referring to an Egyptian-brokered agreement to form unity government and holding elections a year later. The reconciliation agreement was reached in May between Hamas and Fatah, but differences on forming a caretaker government ruling the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip and the Fatah-ruled West Bank blocked the implementation of the agreement's articles. Zahar told Voice of Palestine radio that Hamas sees in Abbas' intention to propose elections as "selectivity" in dealing with the reconciliation agreement, noting that holding elections was only one of five articles in the agreement. On Wednesday, Palestinian officials said that Abbas will present his offer to Khaled Mashaal, the exiled Hamas leader who lives in Damascus. For Abbas, said the officials, it has become easier to convince Hamas to go to polls now, especially after the increase of its popularity as it conducted the first stage of a prisoner exchange deal with Israel. Israel released 477 prisoners Tuesday in exchange for a soldier Hamas had held in Gaza for five years. Zahar noted that Abbas "thought he has won popularity" when he resisted U.S. pressure and applied for a full membership at the United Nations last month. Yasser Abed Rabbo, a Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) official, rejected Zahar's remarks, accusing Hamas of considering the elections as "a minor issue" while it is actually "the prologue to settle all issues of differences."