Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, on Sunday seized on a demonstration marking the third anniversary of Yassir Arafat’s death to urge support for the latest round of Middle East peace talks and turn up the heat on Hamas, his Islamist rivals.
Mr Abbas attacked Hamas as a “force of darkness” and accused the group of a ”conspiracy and coup against the unity of our country and the future of our people”. Speaking a day after he unveiled a new mausoleum dedicated to the former Palestinian leader, Mr Abbas said Hamas would not be allowed to erase Mr Arafat’s achievements.
The attacks marked the latest escalation in a power struggle between Mr Abbas and Hamas that has raged since the group took control of the Gaza Strip in a coup in June – effectively ending Mr Abbas’ rule over the 1.5m Palestinians living in the territory.
Hamas, in turn, has been sharply critical of Mr Abbas’ current efforts to reach a comprehensive settlement with Israel and attend a US-sponsored peace meeting in Annapolis later this year.
Israeli and Palestinian negotiators are currently working on a joint statement to be issued ahead of the meeting. The statement is supposed to lay the ground for future negotiations on the creation of a viable Palestinian state. However, it is unlikely to offer detailed proposals on how to resolve the most explosive issues such as borders, the status of Jerusalem or the right of return for Palestinian refugees.
Defying the criticism from Hamas, Mr Abbas described the Annapolis meeting as a “historical opportunity to open a new page in the history of the Middle East, based on the establishment of our independent Palestinian state”. He vowed to rebury Mr Arafat in Jerusalem, calling it the ”eternal capital of our Palestinian state”.
The Arafat mausoleum is based inside Mr Abbas’ presidential compound. A museum devoted to the life of the former leader is under construction nearby.
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