Hamas blames Fatah, US 'meddling' for failure of talks

The Islamist Hamas on Sunday blamed "impossible conditions" set by moderate Fatah faction and US "meddling" in Palestinian affairs for the deadlock in the Egypt-mediated talks for formation of a unity government.
    
A prominent Hamas legislator and negotiator, Salah Bardaweel, was quoted by the 'Jerusalem Post' as saying that Fatah's demand that the new government abide by all previous agreements signed between Israel and the Palestinians is the main reason behind the failure of the dialogue.
    
Accepting the condition would confer recognition of Israel by Islamist Hamas whose charter avows to the total destruction of the Jewish state.
    
Bardaweel said that Hamas negotiators were surprised when their Fatah counterparts told them that there would be no "unity government" unless they accepted the Oslo Accords and recognised Israel's right to exist.
    
"This is their way of foiling the talks. They set impossible conditions," the Hamas leader said. 
    
The Hamas negotiator said that the two parties also failed to reach an agreement over reforming the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO).
    
Fatah, the largest faction in the PLO, insisted that Hamas first join the organisation and recognise it as the sole and legitimate representative of the Palestinians before talking about reforms, he said.

Bardaweel said Hamas went to the talks in Cairo "with an open heart and a strong desire to achieve national unity," but Palestinian authority president Mahmoud Abbas' refusal to release all Hamas detainees being held in PA prisons also contributed to the failure of the parleys.
    
Unless the Egyptian hosts exert pressure on Fatah to change its position, there is no point in continuing the talks. The delegations can then return home," he said.
    
Another unnamed Hamas official in Gaza Strip blamed US "meddling" in Palestinian affairs for the deadlock.
    
He claimed that Fatah negotiators revealed they had been warned by the US that it would not deal with any government that does not accept the three conditions -- recognising Israel's right to exist, renouncing violence and abiding by all agreements between Israel and the Palestinians.
    
"Fatah and Mahmoud Abbas have succumbed to American pressure once again," the official told the Post adding, "The Americans don't want to see the Palestinians reunited."    

Osama Hamdan, Hamas' representative in Lebanon, said Hamas would never recognise Israel's right to exist or agreements between the PLO and Israel.
    
Abbas, meanwhile, said Fatah's main goal was to end the blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip over the past few years.
    
The Palestinian president acknowledged that the talks were facing "many obstacles and difficulties," but stopped short of declaring them a failure.