Hamas Chief Khaled Meshaal Welcomes HH the Emir's Call for Mini-Arab Summit

Doha, March 29 (QNA) - Chief of Islamic resistance Hamas' politbureau Khaled Meshaal has welcomed the proposal of HH the Emir Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani for holding a mini-Arab Summit in Egypt aimed at achieving national reconciliation between the Hamas and Fatah movements . In a statement carried by Qatari Al Sharq newspaper published here on Friday, Meshaal said," the call of HH the Emir is to subject to be a success since all potentials are already available for this success and thus we have to support and work on it". Elaborating the Hamas leader said " the State of Qatar has exerted and still exerting mammoth efforts where doha has witnessed a stop of such a reconciliation when i met with Palestinian Mahmoud Abbas , Abu Mazen , and the ensuing Palestinian consensus". Meshaal welcomed the same time the Arab and Islamic efforts contributing to speed up the achievement of such a national reonciliation and removing all obstacles impeding it. The Hamas leader also viewed that what is required is not only support the palestinians in al quds but also working out a Palestinian, Arab And Islamic strategy for the rescue of Al Quds on condition that all options should be open , noting that whatever made applicable on Al Quds should also be applicable on the Palestinian cause. In his address at the 24th arab summit, which ended in Doha , Qatar , earlier Tuesday night, president Abbas welcomed HH the emir's aforesaid proposal , the aid proposal and the offer to host talks with Hamas. "We welcome the proposal of the emir of Qatar to hold a small-scale summit dedicated to reconciliation, led by Egypt and based on the Cairo and Doha agreements," Abbas said. "The agreement we reached in Qatar more than a year ago calls us to form a transitional government of independents and to move towards elections, and we are bound by that agreement," he said. In his opening address of the 24th arab summit, HH the emir said, "Realising the gravity of continuation of this situation and its repercussions, we propose - for the sake of putting the Palestinian house in order - convening a smaller Arab summit in Cairo at the earliest possible under the chairmanship of the sisterly Arab Republic of Egypt, and the participation of any Arab countries that wish to attend in addition to Fatah and Hamas leaderships." Elaborating HH the Emir said, " The task of this summit which shouldn t be wound up before realizing that task is to agree on reaching a Palestinian national reconciliation according to practical executive steps and a specific timetable on the bases of Cairo Agreement 2011 and the Doha agreement 2012, and this includes: 1- Setting up a transitional government from independent figures to oversee the legislative and presidential elections. 2- To agree on a date to hold these elections within a specific timeframe. Those who would remain lagging behind or obstructing this process would bear the responsibility before God, the homeland and the history. In a similar press statement to Al Sharq newspaper, Abdullah Abdullah, the Chairman of the Political Committee at the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) stressed the importance of the material and moral support to the Palestinian Authority, which was clearly embodied in the Arab summit concluded recently in Doha . He added that the Palestinian leadership is interested in the steadfastness of the palestinian citizens in their own land, especially Jerusalem residents or the Jerusalemites and appreciates this Arab commitment which we wish it , such a commitment, to be achieved on the ground. Abdullah expressed hope that the reconciliation file would take positive steps by the end of next month. Recently Hamas also welcomed the Qatari initiative, praising "the Egyptian, Arab and Islamic efforts to support and speed up Palestinian national reconciliation and unification," spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said in a statement. Reconciliation efforts between Fatah and Hamas, which has controlled Gaza since 2007 after ousting Fatah forces, stalled after an agreement in Doha in February 2012 between Abbas and Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal.(QNA)