Hamas and Fatah coming to agreement

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Palestinian Rivals Announce Steps Toward Healing Rift
By TAGHREED EL-KHODARY and ISABEL KERSHNER
February 26, 2009
nytimes.com

CAIRO — Leaders of the rival Palestinian groups Hamas and Fatah declared Thursday a “hitoric day” at the conclusion of a meeting here aimed at healing a 20-month schism. The long-awaited Cairo talks added another twist to an already complex political situation as President Obama’s Middle East envoy arrived in Israel for discussions with Israeli and Palestinian officials.

At a joint news conference in the Egyptian capital, Ahmed Qurei of Fatah and Moussa Abu Marzouk of Hamas announced the establishment of committees to find formulas for a Palestinian unity government and new elections, among other things. The committees aim to finish their work by the end of March. Given the bitter divisions between Fatah and Hamas, it remained unclear what kind of unity government might emerge, and whether it would receive international acceptance if it was formed. Still, representatives of the parties in Cairo said there seemed to be political will on both sides to resolve their differences.

The reconciliation talks, held under Egyptian auspices, were the first since Hamas, the Islamic militant group, took control of Gaza in June 2007, routing the Palestinian Authority forces loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas of the mainstream, secularist Fatah. Hamas took over after a brief but brutal factional war in Gaza in which scores of Palestinians were killed.

The American envoy, George J. Mitchell, is on his second trip to the region in a month, part of “ongoing efforts” to “actively and aggressively” advance the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, American officials said.

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Potentially great news - here's hoping they can work hard at it for the benefit of the Palestinians.

[major.tom]