Chief Palestinian negotiator Ahmed Qurei reads out a statement during a news conference in Cairo, February, 26, 2009. REUTERS/Asmaa Waguih
CAIRO, Feb 27 (Reuters) - A dozen Palestinian groups launched a long-awaited dialogue on Thursday and laid out a plan to tackle key issues that could reunite Palestinians after 18 months of schism between Gaza and the West Bank.
All parties say they hope the dialogue will lead to a new national unity government to oversee the reconstruction of Gaza after a three-week Israeli offensive and then to organise presidential and parliamentary elections.
The participants agreed to form five committees to deal with issues such as the formation of the cabinet, presidential and legislative elections and security services.
Senior Fatah official, Azzam al-Ahmed, said a national unity government may be announced before the end of March.
"Yes, it is possible. We are in a hurry. Once we agree we want to start the implementation, and the first step is the government. Everything is linked to the government," he said.
MARCH DEADLINES
The committees would begin their work on March 10 and finish before the end of the month, a final statement issued after the talks said. An Arab diplomat said on Wednesday the Egyptian mediators hoped to complete a deal in time for endorsement by an Arab summit in Qatar in late March.
The United States and European governments want the Palestinians to set up a government of non-partisan technocrats. That would spare them the problem of deciding how to deal with representatives of Hamas, which they call a terrorist group.
The West had shunned a previous national unity government headed by Hamas after it had won parliamentary elections in 2006. Many Arabs and Palestinians said Western powers were punishing the Palestinians for their democratic choice.
But several participants, including senior Fatah official Ahmed Qurei, refused to rule out the possibility of a cabinet that represents the different groups.
"It could be a government of groups, it could be a government of technical experts or it could be a government of technocrats," he said, adding the type of the cabinet was up to the committee handling the issue.
The Islamist group Hamas and the rival Fatah group, which dominates the Palestinian Authority, have different visions of the crucial question of how to deal with Israel.
Hamas, which has controlled Gaza since June 2007, reserves the right to fight Israel, although it is prepared to accept an 18-month truce. Fatah, which controls the West Bank, has renounced violence and puts all its hope in negotiations.
One participant said a disagreement emerged in the talks about the fate of the upcoming legislative and presidential elections. He said several groups wanted to set a fixed date in January 2010 for the polls to allow President Mahmoud Abbas to remain in power unchallenged as long as possible.
The final statement said the polls would take place by January 2010, leaving open the possibility of early elections.
"It could happen in four months, or it could happen in six months," said Samir Ghoushe, secretary-general of the Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
"We avoided what we could disagree on," he added.
Abdel-Rahim Mallouh, deputy chief of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, tried to dampen expectations of fast solutions.
"It has to be clear that we are in the beginning of the road," he said. "As people say, the Devil is in the details."
The national dialogue was preceded by talks between Fatah and Hamas on Wednesday. The two groups exchanged promises to free each other's detainees in Gaza and the West Bank.
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