BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) – President Mahmoud Abbas is set to chair a meeting Thursday in Cairo that will encompass chiefs of Palestinian factions, PLO leaders and the speaker of the Palestinian National Council.
Selected independent figures will join the meeting, which is dedicated to discussing the latest political developments and the ongoing efforts toward Palestinian reconciliation.
“Reconciliation and evaluation of the performance of the committees which emerged from the Cairo agreement will dominate the agenda,” secretary-general of the Palestinian Liberation Front Wasil Abu Yousif told Ma’an.
He added that the participants would address the formation of a technocrat government to be headed by Abbas as agreed in Doha between Abbas and Hamas chief Khalid Mashaal.
The upcoming government, Abu Yousif highlighted, will prepare for presidential and legislative elections as well as elections of a new leadership for the Palestinian National Council.
Reunification of Palestinian organizations and reconstruction of war-torn Gaza are also on the agenda.
Abu Yousif added that the meeting would place special emphasis on the PLO issue in terms of restructuring the organization and reactivating its role as a sole and legitimate representative of the Palestinian people.
Asked to comment on the recent remarks by some Hamas leaders who said the government would not adopt the political agenda of president Abbas, Abu Yousif said, “We hope all obstacles will be overcome.
"We are optimistic about that, and we hope Hamas will allow updating the electoral register in the Gaza Strip and put into effect the recommendations of the public freedom committee, so that reconciliation can move forward.”
Palestinian leaders will also address the future strategies after both the international Quartet and the Jordanian efforts through exploratory negotiations in Amman failed to get the Palestinians and the Israelis to resume peace negotiations.
The expected Palestinian decision, he said, will be to urge the international community and signatories of the Geneva Convention to apply international law on all the occupied Palestinian territory.
Abbas will ask the Arab League’s council to prepare for an international conference aimed at implementing previously signed agreements and getting Israel to comply with international resolutions.
Barakat al-Farra, Palestine's ambassador to Cairo and the permanent representative of Palestine to the Arab League, announced Wednesday that Abbas would start a three-day visit to Cairo.
PLO official Saeb Erekat, Fatah official Azzam Al-Ahmad, and presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rdeina will accompany Abbas in his Cairo visit, al-Farra said earlier.
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