In a briefing in Cairo on May 23, Dahlan criticized the Fatah movement,
which exiled him in late 2010 on charges that he sought to overthrow PA
Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, Middle East Newsline reported. Dahlan said the Fatah reconciliation agreement with
Hamas did not take into account the demand by Palestinian refugees to return
to the homes of their ancestors in what is now Israel.
Arab diplomatic sources said Egypt has allowed Dahlan to return to Cairo
after at least two years of enmity. They said the decision was made by
Egyptian intelligence in wake of the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak,
whose regime regarded Dahlan as an ally of Al Qaida-aligned militias that
sought to destabilize Egypt's Sinai Peninsula.
The 49-year-old Dahlan said Hamas was pressed to sign the reconciliation
accord amid the revolt against Syrian President Bashar Assad. Hamas has
maintained its
headquarters in Damascus for some 20 years.
"What happened in Syria may be an element, and what happened in the Arab
world might have been a motivation [for reconciliation]," Dahlan said.
Dahlan, a member of the Fatah Central Committee, was also said to
have renewed contact with the Hamas regime nearly four years after he and
his forces were expelled in 2007. He said all Fatah forces, including
himself, must be allowed to return to the Gaza Strip.
In the briefing, Dahlan, whose family lives in Jordan, said he supports
elections in the West Bank and Gaza Strip despite the threat of a Hamas
victory. But he did not say whether he would seek election either as PA
chairman or a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council. Dahlan won a
seat in the PLC in the last election in 2006, which resulted in a Hamas
victory.
"Let's wait for the results in the upcoming elections," Dahlan said.
"The changes that occur around us will be channeled
toward the interests of the Palestinian people."
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