Fatah and Hamas meeting yields “Sana’a Declaration”

Hamas Deputy Leader Moussa Abu Marzouk (L), President Ali Abdullah Saleh (C), and Fatah Deputy Prime Minister Azzam al-Ahmed (R) address the media at a press conference following the signing ceremony.

Delegations from both the Fatah and Hamas movements in Palestine signed a statement saying that they “accept the Yemen initiative as a framework for resuming dialogue to restore the normalcy” that existed in the coastal region of Gaza before Hamas’ takeover last June 13.

The meeting of the two factions in Sana’a ended on Sunday after five days of reconciliation talks under the auspices of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Saleh announced the two sides’ acceptance of the Yemen initiative, but without agreement on who will control the Gaza Strip. They did, however say that they will talk again in the Yemeni capital soon to further discuss the situation.

The Sana’a declaration was signed by Azzam al-Ahmed, Deputy Prime Minister and leader of Fatah lawmakers in the Palestinian parliament, and by Hamas’ Deputy Leader Moussa Abu Marzouk. 

The talks raised hopes that Hamas would eventually agree to renounce its hold of Gaza and hand back control of the Gaza strip to the Palestinian Authority in a move to restore a power-sharing national unity government.

President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who was present when both sides signed the statement at a ceremony Sunday in Sana’a, said the Palestinian talks would resume in April. 

“This is the first round of talks and we will help Fatah and Hamas reach an agreement in the interest of the Palestinian people,” President Saleh said in a press conference following the signing of the agreement. “We congratulate the Palestinian people on this signed deal that will completely settle differences and start strengthening confidence among each of Fatah, Hamas and other Palestinian factions,” he added.

The President also said that the Yemeni initiative does not belong only to Yemen, but will be supported by all the Arab leaders at the Damascus Arab Summit to be held next week. 

The Arab League welcomed the reconciliatory deal. Arab League Secretary General Amr Mousa described the agreement as a positive step between the Palestinian factions, expressing his hopes that the Palestinian dialogue would begin immediately. He hailed the efforts of President Saleh which resulted in the signing of the agreement, stressing that following-up this matter was a major issue to be discussed at the upcoming Arab summit.

Saleh called on rival Palestinian sides to stop the provocative media campaigns carried out by each, and acknowledged that there are some difficulties but that "the good will expressed by the two sides will bring great achievements."

Both Abu Marzouk and al-Ahmed agreed that the division between them had only served to benefit Israel.

The talks were based on a seven-point plan proposed by Saleh to end the dispute between the Palestinian rivals and rebuild the shattered Palestinian Authority.

The first criteria of the initiative stresses restoring the situation in Gaza back to what it was prior to the events of June 13, 2007. 

Hamas and Fatah broke ranks after fighters loyal to Hamas forcibly seized control of Gaza from Abbas' ruling Fatah party last June. The clashes between the two shattered a Saudi-sponsored Mecca deal brokered in February, when the two groups agreed to share power in a national unity government.
 
Hamas won the December 2006 Palestinian elections, but later its leaders differed with Abbas over power-sharing and peace with Israel. The struggle climaxed in June 2007, when Hamas took over Gaza, driving out forces loyal to Abbas, whose government now controls only the West Bank.

The initiative also proposes conducting an early election and resuming dialogue based on the Cairo 2005 Agreement and the Mecca 2007 Accord on the basis that the Palestinian people are one unit that cannot be separated and that the Palestinian authority consists of the elected presidential authority, the elected parliament and the executive authority, all of whom are represented in the national unity government. 

The initiative also urges a commitment to Palestinian legitimacy in all its components, including respect for the Palestinian constitution and law and compliance to its rules by all factions. 

Other criteria proposed by the initiative were the restructuring of Palestinian security institutions so that they would be affiliated with the supreme authority of the nation and a part of the national unity government. It also calls for Arab states, such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Jordan to form a council to oversee the implementation of the Yemeni plan.

The Yemen gathering's foremost achievement was that the Palestinian factions met for the first time to sign the statement Sunday after holding proxy talks with Yemeni officials. Many previous attempts by several Arab mediators to bring the Palestinians together had failed, as Abbas insisted that Hamas should apologize first for its military takeover of Gaza.

The reconciliation talks in Yemen began Tuesday when delegations from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah Party and the Islamic Hamas movement flew in for talks with Yemeni officials to finally put an end to their division.

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