Palestinian National Conference (Damascus) taps Mishaal to negotiate with Cairo

Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal adjusts his
glasses during a Damascus conference of
Palestinian organizations January 23, 2008.
REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah (SYRIA

DAMASCUS, -- The higher committee assigned
to follow up implementation of the Palestinian
national conference's resolutions announced that
Khaled Mishaal, the Hamas supreme leader,
was authorized to speak on its behalf in Cairo.


The committee issued a statement on Sunday
saying that the committee entrusted Mishaal
to speak with the Egyptian leadership on the
best possible means for initiating a serious and
comprehensive national dialogue.


The statement said that the committee, formed
out of 23 Palestinian figures including secretaries
general of Palestinian factions attending the conference,
held its first meeting and elected
Bassam Al-Shakaa as president.


It also noted that the members discussed the Israeli
siege of Gaza and the measures discussed by the
Arab foreign ministers to break that siege.

The Hamas Movement on Sunday revealed that an official delegation of the Movement from outside and inside the occupied homeland would head to Cairo on Wednesday at the official invitation of the Egyptian government. Fawzi Barhoum, a Hamas spokesman, told PIC that representative of Hamas and the PA caretaker government in Gaza would hold talks with Egyptian officials on new arrangements for running the Rafah terminal between Egypt and the Gaza Strip. He said that his Movement was ready to attend a tripartite meeting in the presence of PA chief Mahmoud Abbas or Fatah representatives in a bid to bridge gaps and end the division in the Palestinian arena. Another Hamas spokesman Dr. Sami Abu Zuhri said on Sunday evening that the Egyptian invitation meant that Cairo did not agree on Abbas's plan for running the crossing. Salam Fayyad, the premier of the unconstitutional PA government in Ramallah, earlier told the press that Cairo had agreed to Abbas's plan. For his part, the PLC acting speaker Dr. Ahmed Bahar said on Sunday that it was about time the Gaza borders with Egypt were re-arranged. He said that the Rafah border terminal should be organized in a way facilitating the movement of citizens in and out of the Strip and ensuring Egypt's security. Bahar, who was speaking in his office while receiving an Egyptian parliamentary and popular delegation, said that the removal of the borders on the part of the people in Gaza was in rejection of Zionist blackmail and a reflection of the historical relations between the Palestinian and Egyptian peoples.