Top faction lobbies Palestinian leadership for Iran to broker deal with Hamas
Friday, July 24, 2009 E-Mail this story Free Headline Alerts
RAMALLAH Ñ The ruling Fatah movement has been pressing the leadership to form an alliance with Iran.
Palestinian sources said the military wing of Fatah has been lobbying the leadership of the Palestinian Authority to reconcile with the mullah regime in Teheran. The sources said Fatah militia chiefs and some PA security officers have been conducting a dialogue with Iran in a quest for funds as well as to pressure Hamas to end its crackdown on Fatah operatives in the Gaza Strip.
"Iran can no longer be ignored," a Palestinian source involved the effort said. "Iran has been committed to every organization it has chosen to support."
The sources said elements within Fatah's military wing have been aligned with Teheran as early as 2001. But they said the effort was opposed when Mahmoud Abbas, supported by the United States, became chairman of the PA in 2005.
The sources said Abbas, in coordination with Egypt, agreed to open a channel to Iran in an effort to reach a settlement with the Hamas regime in the Gaza Strip. Abbas has sought to ensure that Hamas enable 300 Fatah operatives in the Gaza Strip to attend the Sixth Fatah General Conference, scheduled for Aug. 4 in the West Bank city of Bethlehem.
On July 16, PA minister and chief negotiator Saeb Erekat became the first PA official to openly meet with Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki. They said the late PA Chairman Yasser Arafat had maintained an envoy who would occasionally travel to Iran.
"We saw each other," Erekat said. "It was just a regular meeting.
Palestinian sources said the 15-minute session in Egypt was meant to demonstrate the PA's willingness to conduct an open relationship with Iran. They said the next meetings could include a visit by a senior PA official to Teheran.
"Erekat represented Abbas and the pro-Western wing of Fatah and the PA, and so this marked a strong message that a new policy was being launched," another Fatah source said. "It also was meant to show the United States and Arab countries that we have options."
On July 21, Iran said the Erekat-Mottaki meeting focused on the prospect of a PA-Hamas reconciliation. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hassan Qashqavi did not elaborate.
Palestinian sources said senior Fatah officials have issued statements meant to overcome Iranian objection to cooperation. They said the statements included pledges to continue the armed struggle against Israel regardless of any PA accord.
"I am certain that we will hinder all the traitors who wish to remove the resistance option from the [Fatah] movement's charter," Fatah official Rafik Natsheh said.