Palestinian factions try to rescue unity talks as arrests continue

Gaza City/Cairo - Rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah will form a committee to resolve the lynchpin issue of each side's arrest of members of the other, a Hamas spokesman said Tuesday. Spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said the fate of the sixth round of Egyptian-brokered talks aimed at reconciling the two factions 'depends on the progress that committee makes.' Egypt has imposed a July 7 deadline on negotiators from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah faction, which controls Palestinian-administered areas of the West Bank, and Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, either to sign an agreement on a 'national unity' government, or to accept a compromise that would see a joint committee coordinate the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip and prepare for fresh elections. At a late-night press conference, senior Fatah negotiator Azzam al-Ahmed said that the two sides had reached 'a clear breakthrough'. The two had agreed on the broad points, he said, and needed only to hammer out the details. But as talks continued on Monday, Hamas and Fatah representatives said security forces loyal to the rival faction had arrested their members. In the days before the talks, Hamas stressed that the issue of what it calls 'political arrests' must be resolved before any other. By Tuesday, Fatah negotiators seemed to have reduced expectations. 'The two committees are still in talks, after more than five hours of discussions,' Fatah negotiator Nabil Shaath said. 'The atmosphere is very positive, but we can't yet say that we have overcome all our differences.' 'The committee will draw up a plan to end the political arrests,' Abu Zuhri said. 'Hamas' demands in this regard are stopping detentions in the West Bank and releasing all its supporters there.' Hamas says Fatah security forces hold around 800 Hamas members and supporters in West Bank jails. Fatah says Hamas still hunting down its activists and loyalists in the Gaza Strip, and has arrested hundreds of them over the past couple of days alone. Fatah said there are more than 200 Fatah supporters in Gazan jails. A Gaza-based human rights group al-Damir on Tuesday accused both Hamas and Fatah of continuing illegal arrests against dissidents in Gaza and the West Bank.