Hamas to miss Arab Summit

March 24, 2006
Gulf-daily-news.com 
http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/NewsDetails.aspx?storyid=138967

GAZA: Hamas yesterday said its presentation of a new Palestinian government for parliamentary approval next week would force the group to miss a two-day Arab summit due to begin on Tuesday.Hamas will not participate in the Arab Summit in Sudan because some Palestinian parties have delayed the measures related to the presentation of a Hamas government to parliament, Mohammad Nazzal, a Hamas leader, said.

Hamas, winner of the Palestinian parliamentary election in January, is to present its cabinet to the legislature on Monday. The parliament would then debate the line-up and later hold a vote of confidence.

Nazzal said the parliamentary proceedings could take days. It means ... that no one from the Hamas government will attend the summit, he said.

In a report on Sunday, Yemen's state news agency said Hamas expected Arab states that have pledged financial aid to a Hamas-led administration to specify the amount of funds they will give when they meet in Khartoum next week.

Nazzal accused Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, whose Fatah faction was crushed in the January 25 poll, of effectively blocking Hamas's participation by delaying the moves to approve the government.

The announcement came as Israeli aircraft shot dead two Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip early yesterday, sources on both sides said.

The Islamic Jihad group, which has carried out the last seven attacks on Israeli targets, named the dead militants as Mahmud Salah Ayad, 25, and Fares Sofian Abu Gharaba, 24, and confirmed they were trying to carry out an attack.

The Israeli military said the two men were part of a three-man commando, of whom the third escaped, and added that a 30-kg bomb had been recovered from the scene close to the border with Israel.

Meanwhile, incoming Palestinian interior minister Saeed Seyam, chosen by Hamas to oversee three security services, said he will not order the arrest of militants carrying out attacks against Israel.

The day will never come when any Palestinian would be arrested because of his political affiliation or because of resisting the occupation, Seyam said in an interview. The file of political detention must be closed.

As well as vowing not to arrest militants for carrying out attacks against Israel, Seyam said Hamas would try to co-ordinate militants' operations.

Talks with the factions in the future will focus on the mechanisms, the shape and the timing (of any attacks), he said. But the right to defend our people and to confront the aggression is granted and is legitimate.

Seyam said he had begun talks with Palestinian security chiefs in the hope of averting fighting within the security services. A majority of the 20,000-plus security personnel, who will answer to Seyam, are Fatah members.

The discovery of deadly bird flu in both Israel and Palestine, however, pushed the two sides to work together despite plummeting relations.

Israel yesterday confirmed that the H5N1 strain that is dangerous to humans had been found in poultry in a Jewish settlement in the West Bank, hot on the heels of its detection in both the Gaza Strip and six farms inside Israel.

Israeli officials said co-operation with the Palestinians on bird flu so far had been strong and tight and said a way needed to be found for that to continue even after a Hamas-dominated government takes power on Monday.