National unity government to be first step towards overcoming split in Palestine - Russian foreign ministry

MOSCOW, January 16. /TASS/. Formation of a government of national unity could be a first real step to bridge the intra-Palestinian gap, the Russian foreign ministry said on Monday after a meeting between Russian president’s envoy for the Middle East and African countries and Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov, Fatah Central Committee member Azzam al-Ahmad and deputy chairman of Hamas’ political bureau Mousa Abu Marzouk. "The senior Fatah and Hamas officials informed in detail about the ongoing dialogue in Moscow and reiterated commitment of their movements and other participants in the Moscow meeting to efforts to swiftly overcome the intra-Palestinian split," the ministry said. "A first real step towards this could be formation of a government of national unity that would take up resolution of concrete problems on the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip." The Fatah and Hamas officials thanked Russia for organizing the intra-Palestinian meeting in Moscow on January 15. "Bogdanov, in turn, reiterated Russia’s principled position in support of Palestinian consolidation on the political platform of the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Arab Peace Initiative as a necessary condition for the implementation of the Palestinian people’s aspirations for their own independent state based on the recognized international law," the ministry said. Earlier on Monday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met with the representatives of leading Palestinian parties to call upon them to work for achieving a compromise so crucial to the people of Palestine. He hailed efforts taken by the Palestinians to restore national unity and stressed that overcoming of the intra-Palestinian split on the basis of the political platform of the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Arab Peace Initiative is called to create necessary conditions for establishing sustainable talks with Israel and reaching a comprehensive, fair and lasting settlement in the Middle East." Read more