Hamas, Jihad to
Hold Talks with Abbas before Deciding on Attacks
By Arnon Regular
Haaretz
Hamas and Islamic
Jihad are waiting until Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas
updates them Wednesday about the previous day's Sharm el-Sheikh summit
before they decide whether to halt attacks on Israeli targets.
Israel Radio reported
Wednesday morning that Abbas was slated to meet the militant Palestinian
factions later in the day to describe the outcome of Tuesday's summit with
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, where the two leaders declared an end to all
military and militant operations.
"We are going to
listen to Mr. Abbas when he returns," Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas spokesman in
the Gaza Strip said Tuesday. "We are going to sit down with him, and then
we are going to declare our position."
Abu Zuhri dismissed
the summit, but said it was too early to decide whether Hamas would resume
its activities against Israelis. "It did not achieve anything," he said.
"From our people's interests, the Israeli position did not change."
Osama Hamdan, the
Hamas representative in Lebanon,
also said it was too soon to say whether attacks would continue.
Saying Hamas is not
bound by the truce, Hamdan said Hamas' decision will depend on
"achievement of a substantial change [in Israel's position] to meet
Palestinian demands and conditions."
"The talk about what
the leader of the Palestinian Authority called a cessation of acts of
violence is not binding on the resistance because this is a unilateral
stand and was not the outcome of an intra-Palestinian dialogue, as has
been agreed previously," Hamdan told The Associated Press.
But Palestinian
Legislative Council member Ziyad Abu Ziyad dismissed Hamas' declaration
that it is not bound by the cease-fire declarations, saying the militant
group will maintain regional quiet as long as Israel does not renew
military activity.
Abu Ziyad said
Wednesday that the Hamas statement was likely a "political" way of
distancing the group from the official summit declarations and does not
mean it will continue carrying out terror attacks.
Hamas "is committed
[to maintaining the quiet] and will continue to be committed as long as
Israel commits" to refraining from military activity against the
Palestinians, Abu Ziyad told Israel Radio.
Hamdan also said that
in order for a truce to succeed, Israel must release Palestinian prisoners
and provide "a clear commitment ... to halt all kinds of aggression
against the Palestinian people. These two conditions were not achieved at
the summit. Overall, I think this summit did not achieve any valuable
interest for the Palestinian people."
However, he did not
specify how the commitment Sharon made at the summit fell short of Hamas'
requirement. The prime minister said "Israel will cease all its military
activity against all Palestinians everywhere."
Meanwhile, the top
Islamic Jihad leader in Gaza also said he would await Abbas' update.
Nafez Azzam
criticized Sharon for failing to explain exactly what he is committing
himself to.
"We have mentioned
several times before that calm cannot come from one side, and cannot come
for free," Azzam said. "We will wait for the return of Mr. Abbas, and then
we will see."
On arriving with
Abbas in Amman after the summit, Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia
downplayed the Hamas and Islamic Jihad reactions.
"There are good
understandings between all the Palestinian groups and factions and
leaders," Qureia said. "We'll discuss with them now, immediately, the
results [of the summit]."
Abbas has held talks
with them and other militant Palestinian groups in an attempt to convince
them to agree to a truce with Israel.
February 9, 2005
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