Palestinian factions sign unity deal in Cairo
Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad addresses a news conference in the West Bank city of Ramallah on May 2, 2011 a day before Palestinian factions signed a reconciliation deal in Cairo intended to repair ties between Hamas and Fatah and end a bitter divide between the West Bank and Gaza. AFP | ABBAS MOMANI
CAIRO, Tuesday
Palestinian factions gathered in Cairo on Tuesday signed a reconciliation deal that will pave the way for elections within a year, an AFP correspondent said.
Representatives of 13 factions, including Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas's Fatah party and its rival Hamas, as well as independent political figures inked the deal following talks with Egyptian officials.
"We signed the deal despite several reservations. But we insisted on working for the higher national interest," said Walid al-Awad, a politburo member of the leftist Palestine People's Party.
"We have discussed all the reservations. Everyone has agreed to take these points into consideration," he told Egyptian state television without elaborating.
"Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank will be celebrating this agreement... We must now work to implement what was agreed in the deal," he said.
Among the first tasks to be tackled is the formation of a government and the establishment of a higher security council tasked with examining ways to integrate Hamas and Fatah's rival security forces and create a "professional" security service.
The accord also calls for the creation of an electoral tribunal and for the release of a number prisoners held by the rival movements in jails in the West Bank and Gaza.
