Damascus - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will follow up
on the dialogue between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority, Syria's
Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem said on Sunday.
'President Assad will be in contact with Hamas and the Palestinian
Authority leaders. He'll follow up the dialogue and the proposals in
order to end the status of Palestinian internal division,' al-Moallem
said
He made the statement in a joint news conference with Arab League
Secretary General of the Arab League Amr Mussa at the end of the two-
day Arab summit hosted by Syria.
Weeks of infighting between Hamas and the Fatah movement of
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Fatah, culminated in Hamas'
takeover of the Gaza Strip in June after routing Abbas' security
forces.
After nine months of disputes and differences between the two
sides, Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh came up with a seven-
clause initiative aiming at ending the inter-Palestinian differences.
The Yemeni initiative calls on Hamas to end give up the Gaza
Strip, start immediate dialogue with Abbas and Fatah and hold early
presidential and legislative elections.
Both Fatah and Hamas accepted the Yemeni initiative of
reconciliation. However, Fatah demanded an immediate implementation
of the initiative, while Hamas said the initiative has to be
negotiated and not implemented.
'President Assad will contact both sides, and will convey to Yemen
what he gets to follow up the initiative. The Arab efforts will also
continue to follow up the initiative's implementation,' said
al-Moallem.
Meanwhile, Mussa told reporters 'the Yemeni initiative is right
now on the table and all parties will cooperate and work together in
order to see it implemented as soon as possible.'
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