Hamas, Fatah Delegations Head To Cairo For Reconciliation Talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
August 20, 2008 - 12:00am

Egypt has invited Palestinian groups to Cairo next week for talks on Palestinian reconciliation, the state-run Middle East News Agency (MENA) reported on Tuesday. The agency quoted an unnamed official as saying Egypt would hold talks with Fatah and Hamas individually and would then organize wider discussions with all the groups simultaneously.

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Hamas, Fatah delegations head to Cairo for reconciliation talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
August 18, 2008 - 8:00pm

Egypt has invited Palestinian groups to Cairo next week for talks on Palestinian reconciliation, the state-run Middle East News Agency (MENA) reported on Tuesday. The agency quoted an unnamed official as saying Egypt would hold talks with Fatah and Hamas individually and would then organize wider discussions with all the groups simultaneously. The Palestinian delegations are expected to begin arriving on Monday, MENA said.

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Hamas upset by Fatah prisoner release
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
August 18, 2008 - 8:00pm

Israel's plan to release 200 Fatah prisoners as a goodwill gesture to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has angered Hamas and could result in a policy change regarding any future prisoner exchange deal with Israel to secure the release of captured IDF soldier Gilad Schalit. Senior Hamas official Mahmoud Zahar was quoted Tuesday by the London-based Arab daily Al-Quds Al-Arabi as saying that if only Fatah prisoners are released it will convince Hamas to demand the release of prisoners that "would fit" its agenda.

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Hamas rejects Arab deployment plan
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Khaled Abu Toameh - August 18, 2008 - 8:00pm

Hamas has rejected a proposal to deploy Arab troops in the Gaza Strip, saying such a move would only deepen divisions among the Palestinians. The proposal, which was presented to Hamas by Egypt and Jordan in recent days, has won the full backing of the Palestinian Authority leadership in Ramallah. The initiative has also won the backing of the Saudis, who told visiting PA President Mahmoud Abbas that they would do their utmost to persuade Hamas to accept it, a senior PA official said Tuesday.

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Qatar To Mediate Between Hamas, Fatah
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Khaleej Times
August 18, 2008 - 12:00am

Qatar has entered the mediation efforts between rival Palestinian groups Fatah and Hamas in a new bid to achieve reconciliation between the two sides, Palestinian sources said on Saturday. "Qatar, as a state of strategic weight in the region, seeks to sponsor the mediation between Hamas and Fatah to end the internal split and reunite the two wings of Palestine," the sources said.

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Hamas Meets Jordanian Official, Says Frozen Ties Starting To Thaw
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
August 18, 2008 - 12:00am

Officials from Hamas have met with a top Jordanian security official to try to patch up ties soured since 2006 by charges that the Islamist Palestinian group was planning to carry out attacks in Jordan. Hamas' leader in the Gaza Strip Ismail Haniyeh said on Friday that the contacts, involving two Hamas officials and Jordan's intelligence chief, Mohammed al-Thahabi, could help reconcile Hamas with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' secular Fatah faction.

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Qatar to mediate between Hamas, Fatah
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Deutsche Presse Agentur (DPA)
August 15, 2008 - 8:00pm

Qatar has entered the mediation efforts between rival Palestinian groups Fatah and Hamas in a new bid to achieve reconciliation between the two sides, Palestinian sources said on Saturday. "Qatar, as a state of strategic weight in the region, seeks to sponsor the mediation between Hamas and Fatah to end the internal split and reunite the two wings of Palestine," the sources said.

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Hamas meets Jordanian official, says frozen ties starting to thaw
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
August 14, 2008 - 8:00pm

Officials from Hamas have met with a top Jordanian security official to try to patch up ties soured since 2006 by charges that the Islamist Palestinian group was planning to carry out attacks in Jordan. Hamas' leader in the Gaza Strip Ismail Haniyeh said on Friday that the contacts, involving two Hamas officials and Jordan's intelligence chief, Mohammed al-Thahabi, could help reconcile Hamas with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' secular Fatah faction.

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The Controversy Surrounding Carter And Meshaal's Meeting
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
by Tariq Alhomayed - (Opinion) April 16, 2008 - 6:05pm

Huge controversy surrounds former US president Jimmy Carter's meeting with Hamas supremo Khaled Meshaal. Carter has stated that during his meeting with Hamas's leader in Damascus; he will strive to convince him to accept a peaceful solution with Israel and Fatah.

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Israeli Siege Bears Strange Fruit
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Sunday Herald
by Alex Renton - April 7, 2008 - 5:45pm

FADEL DARDAR stares with weary gloom at the wreck of his orange grove. "They used to bring us $3000 a year - just the trees in this one field. Now they're worth nothing, less than nothing." It's early spring in Gaza, but most of the 100 or so trees have lost their leaves - and the few that remain are brown and brittle. Bizarrely, hundreds of ripe oranges still hang on the branches, but just as many of the fruit are rotting in the stinking, muddy ground.

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