Abbas, Haniyeh work on "unity"

From JPost.com » Middle East » Mar. 4, 2007 23:54 By KHALED ABU TOAMEH, AP AND JPOST.COM STAFF ...

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh failed to make progress on talks toward forming a unity government, an official said early Monday.

.... Haniyeh and Abbas were hoping to present a government by the end of the period allotted to Haniyeh, which expires in two weeks.

...The leaders met for three hours in Gaza, leaving just after midnight without talking to reporters. Abbas had arrived in the Strip for what his aides described as "decisive" talks with Haniyeh to patch up differences over the composition and political platform of the proposed government.

Before the two rival faction leaders met, a war of words erupted between Fatah and Hamas, with each side accusing the other of seeking to derail the Mecca agreement. Differences over the identity of Fatah and Hamas ministers in the coalition cabinet are threatening to torpedo the Mecca agreement, a top Abbas aide told The Jerusalem Post. He also said "some differences" had sparked disputes between the two parties over the interpretation of the Mecca agreement, particularly regarding the status of previous agreements with Israel and recognition of United Nations resolutions concerning the Israeli-Arab conflict.

....In Gaza City, Fatah leaders issued a statement threatening to employ an "iron fist" against unnamed Hamas members for allegedly trying to derail the Mecca agreement. "We know who these people are and who's behind them," the statement reads. "They are serving the interests of a party that is hostile to our people."

In response, Hamas accused unnamed officials close to Abbas of working to thwart the Mecca accord. "While Abbas and the Fatah leadership are trying to consolidate the agreement, some people around them are trying to sabotage their efforts," the movement said in a leaflet distributed in Gaza City shortly before the Abbas-Haniyeh summit began.

Hamas also accused Fatah gunmen in the Gaza Strip of carrying out a series of attacks against Hamas activists and institutions in the past three weeks, in violation of the Mecca agreement. Hamas also complained that Fatah-run Web sites were continuing to publish anti-Hamas material....