According to an article in the Egyptian newspaper al-Ahram Weekly, the Arab Republic of Egypt is heavily involved in ?managing the Intifada,? as the piece?s title reads. The talks in Cairo between Fatah, Hamas and other terrorist gangs are ?dedicated to ?discussing? rather than ?stopping? operations inside Israel's 1967 borders (the Green Line),? reports the newspaper. ?The talks,? explains the article, ?also come under the broader rubric of Palestinian unity.? Al-Ahram reports, ?According to Mohamed Sobeih, Palestine's representative at the Arab League, delegates from six Palestinian factions held bilateral negotiations with senior Egyptian officials ahead of ?unity talks? scheduled in Cairo ?soon.??
The newspaper provides further details of official Egyptian meetings with the worst of Arab terrorist groups operating against Israel today: ?According to sources close to the negotiations, Hamas politburo chief Khaled Meshaal, based in the Syrian capital Damascus, has secretly visited Cairo more than once over the past month for negotiations with senior Egyptian officials to pave the way for last week's talks. Meshaal conveyed Hamas's suggestion for a dialogue that includes all the Palestinian factions. Cairo took it up and invited Fatah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, The Popular and Democratic Fronts for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP and DFLP) and the communist People's Party for bilateral talks last week. According to Sobeih, delegates from all these factions spoke with Egyptian officials this week....?
The Al-Ahram columnist recognizes the ?significance of the talks,? and quotes ?informed sources? as noting that ?this is the first time that such senior Egyptian officials have opened a dialogue with Islamist groups such as Hamas and Jihad, orchestrators of the majority of operations against Israel.? Perhaps more notably, ?Hamas... welcomed the Egyptian initiative. Cairo, Hamas sources said, respected the group's decisions and ?did not attempt, not once, to pressure us to halt our operations.? Following four-day talks earlier this week with Soliman the DFLP's Secretary General, Nayef Hawatma, also said that cessation of suicide operations had not been discussed.? Furthermore, the Egyptian newspaper reported, ?[s]uch reports were confirmed by Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher, who at a press conference on Monday revealed that ?stopping the Intifada or the resistance is not [a] proposed [item on the table].??
?Cairo had been expected,? al-Ahram Weekly reported, ?to pressure Hamas and Jihad to stop operations, at least until the Israeli elections on 28 January.?
The new approach, a Hamas source told the Weekly, is a reflection of the fact that ?Cairo is very, very worried. It is our impression that it is taking the new US vision seriously and wants to prove that Egypt has a powerful role in the Arab-Israeli conflict....? As for a Hamas official spokesman, Khaled Mashaal, he told the newspaper, from Damascus, ?The objective of these talks are twofold... establishing Palestinian unity and putting an end to internal chaos and disagreements which only serve the interests of the Zionists. We want to develop a political vision on how to manage the resistance and the Intifada to make it more effective.... We will negotiate with whoever Fatah delegates... in any negotiations our position is clear. We have two constants: Palestinian rights and continuing resistance.?
The newspaper provides further details of official Egyptian meetings with the worst of Arab terrorist groups operating against Israel today: ?According to sources close to the negotiations, Hamas politburo chief Khaled Meshaal, based in the Syrian capital Damascus, has secretly visited Cairo more than once over the past month for negotiations with senior Egyptian officials to pave the way for last week's talks. Meshaal conveyed Hamas's suggestion for a dialogue that includes all the Palestinian factions. Cairo took it up and invited Fatah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, The Popular and Democratic Fronts for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP and DFLP) and the communist People's Party for bilateral talks last week. According to Sobeih, delegates from all these factions spoke with Egyptian officials this week....?
The Al-Ahram columnist recognizes the ?significance of the talks,? and quotes ?informed sources? as noting that ?this is the first time that such senior Egyptian officials have opened a dialogue with Islamist groups such as Hamas and Jihad, orchestrators of the majority of operations against Israel.? Perhaps more notably, ?Hamas... welcomed the Egyptian initiative. Cairo, Hamas sources said, respected the group's decisions and ?did not attempt, not once, to pressure us to halt our operations.? Following four-day talks earlier this week with Soliman the DFLP's Secretary General, Nayef Hawatma, also said that cessation of suicide operations had not been discussed.? Furthermore, the Egyptian newspaper reported, ?[s]uch reports were confirmed by Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher, who at a press conference on Monday revealed that ?stopping the Intifada or the resistance is not [a] proposed [item on the table].??
?Cairo had been expected,? al-Ahram Weekly reported, ?to pressure Hamas and Jihad to stop operations, at least until the Israeli elections on 28 January.?
The new approach, a Hamas source told the Weekly, is a reflection of the fact that ?Cairo is very, very worried. It is our impression that it is taking the new US vision seriously and wants to prove that Egypt has a powerful role in the Arab-Israeli conflict....? As for a Hamas official spokesman, Khaled Mashaal, he told the newspaper, from Damascus, ?The objective of these talks are twofold... establishing Palestinian unity and putting an end to internal chaos and disagreements which only serve the interests of the Zionists. We want to develop a political vision on how to manage the resistance and the Intifada to make it more effective.... We will negotiate with whoever Fatah delegates... in any negotiations our position is clear. We have two constants: Palestinian rights and continuing resistance.?