The sources said Abbas has refused to announce a date and venue for the
conference despite Israeli cooperation. They said Israel has agreed to allow
anybody invited to the conference Ñ including those from the Gaza Strip Ñ
to attend. This has included PLO Foreign Affairs Department head
Farouk Khaddoumy, a leading Fatah dissident aligned with Iran.
Abbas and Fatah dissidents have been arguing over the number of
delegates to the conference and the authority of the PA chairman to appoint
them. As Fatah chairman, Abbas has been allowed to appoint 120 delegates to
the parley.
But Fatah sources said Abbas has sought to appoint many more delegates
while reducing the number of those eligible to attend. They said the
conference was expected to name up to 1,500 delegates in what would pave the
way for the first elections of the Fatah Central Committee in 20 years.
Another dispute concerned the number of delegates allowed to attend from
the Gaza Strip. The sources said Abbas has permitted his former security
chief, Mohammed Dahlan, to bring up to 500 delegates from the Gaza Strip,
all of whom were expected to demonstrate loyalty to the Fatah chairman.
"Technical committees have begun to complete some technical issues
concerning securing the attendance of Fatah members from abroad and from
Gaza, who number in the hundreds," PA Civil Affairs Minister Hussein A-Sheik
said.
A-Sheik said Fatah was planning to convene the Fatah conference in early
July in the West Bank city of Bethlehem. He said he did not expect any
change in the venue.
"We have received initial approval for allowing all from Gaza and abroad
into the West Bank," A-Sheik said.
