Egypt-Backed Summit Gives Abbas a Boost

Jun 22, 09:26 AM

Current Headlines: By Steven Erlanger

In a gesture of support for the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah, Egypt organized a summit meeting for him with Jordanian and Israeli leaders to take place Monday, Israel announced Thursday. The meeting, which will take place at Sharm el-Sheik on the Red Sea, President Hosni Mubarak's favorite resort for such events, represents an effort by the American allies Egypt, Jordan and Israel to further isolate the Islamic movement Hamas, which took over the Gaza Strip last week, routing Fatah.

Egypt, which failed in numerous efforts to negotiate cease-fires in Gaza and a prisoner release for an Israeli soldier captured by Hamas a year ago, has now moved its diplomatic representation from Gaza to Ramallah, on the West Bank.

Hamas leaders say they do not want to run Gaza alone, that they recognize the legitimacy of Abbas as president and want to restore the unity government Abbas negotiated with them in March. But after the collapse of Fatah in Gaza, Abbas, encouraged by Israel and the United States, fired the unity government and its prime minister, Ismail Haniya of Hamas, and named a new emergency government whose writ runs only in the West Bank.

Abbas says he can no longer negotiate with Hamas, whom he called "murderous terrorists," extraordinarily harsh language for any Palestinian, let alone the president.

In a series of decrees, Abbas has canceled the validity of any Palestinian passport or travel document issued in Gaza, meaning that Gazans will have to travel to the West Bank to get new ones. That journey is impossible for most Gazans because of Israeli security restrictions, so the move will presumably allow Abbas and Fatah to prevent Hamas figures from getting new passports.

Fatah gunmen have also attacked Hamas institutions and some of its prominent members in the West Bank, and Hamas media can no longer be heard or read there.

While the Saudis are encouraging Fatah and Hamas to renew the unity government on a firmer basis, the split between the West Bank and Gaza appears to be getting deeper with new Egyptian and Jordanian support.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of Israel has just returned from a meeting in Washington with President George W. Bush, at which they both emphasized their support for Abbas, despite his weakness.

The Americans have wanted Abbas and Olmert to meet biweekly to discuss a "political horizon" for a peace settlement, but Abbas has previously been reluctant to do so without the guarantee of tangible results, like the handing back of Palestinian tax money held by Israel because of Hamas or the lifting of checkpoints in the West Bank.

But now, with Gaza seemingly "lost" to Fatah, and Hamas out of the new emergency government, Israel and Washington have said they will lift all monetary and diplomatic sanctions.

So an Olmert-Abbas meeting under Egyptian and Jordanian auspices - with Washington looming silently overhead - is acceptable to Abbas, since it is very likely to result in Israeli promises to quickly deliver on a significant part of the $560 million or so now being withheld.

Abbas will repeat his call for resumption of peace talks with Israel, arguing that only Palestinian statehood can disprove the appeal of Hamas, said Saeb Erekat, an Abbas aide and negotiator. "We need to deliver the end of occupation, a Palestinian state," he said. "If we don't have hope, Hamas will export despair to the people."

An Israeli spokesman, David Baker, said that the purpose of the meeting was "to strengthen the moderates and promote Israeli- Palestinian ties." Miri Eisin, Olmert's spokeswoman, said that "this will be a congregation of moderate forces who are showing their authority in defining the agenda, as opposed to letting the extremists do it." She said that the leaders would discuss the impact of Gaza "on the political process and ways to go forward on the political horizon."

As for the possible involvement of Tony Blair, the British prime minister, in the Middle East peace process, Eisin said that Olmert had heard of the idea and supported Blair, but "what he had heard wasn't Mr. Blair as a peace mediator, but more of a governmental or political mentor to the help the Palestinians build a government," she said.

Palestinians in Gaza remain wary about the future under Hamas and deeply worried by their new isolation. Even some Hamas supporters do not feel that Hamas can or should try to govern Gaza alone, or that countries like Egypt should be implicitly supporting the division of Gaza from the West Bank.

In Jerusalem, a parade in favor of gay rights passed off largely peacefully despite vocal opposition and protests by ultra-Orthodox citizens, who make up about 30 percent of the city's population. One man was arrested for carrying a home-made bomb he said he intended to put along the route, police said.

(c) 2007 International Herald Tribune. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.