Hamas, Fatah Exchange Promise On Detainees

The meeting on Wednesday was the latest of several in the last few weeks to pave the way for the national dialogue.

The two big Palestinian groups, Fatah and Hamas, exchanged promises on Wednesday to free each other's detainees in Gaza and the West Bank, in a goodwill gesture on the eve of Egyptian-sponsored national unity talks.

After talks in Cairo, officials from the two groups said the detainees were an important aspect of the talks, and each side urged the other to turn its promises into reality.

The national dialogue, expected to start on Thursday in Cairo with about a dozen Palestinian groups, seeks to establish a unity government which could take part in peace talks with Israel and oversee reconstruction work in Gaza after a three-week Israeli offensive there in December and January.

Rivalry between Fatah and Hamas, the Islamist group which won a parliamentary election in 2006, worsened in 2007 when Hamas forces seized control of Gaza.

Signs of an improved atmosphere between the two groups emerged on Wednesday when Ayman Daraghmeh of Hamas's Reform and Change bloc said Fatah had released about 40 Hamas prisoners in the West Bank ahead of the dialogue.

Ezzat al-Rishq, a member of the Hamas political bureau, said Fatah should free more people, and leading Fatah member Nabil Shaath said more releases would indeed follow.

"They have released several scores and we told them that this was not enough," Rishq told reporters. "There are promises and we hope that they will turn into reality by releasing the rest of the detainees in the coming few days".

Shaath said Hamas had also promised to lift the house arrest it had imposed on Fatah members in the Gaza Strip. "This should happen immediately. From tomorrow, from today," he said.

NATIONAL UNITY GOVERNMENT

The two big groups have fundamental differences over how to deal with Israel. Hamas reserves the right to fight Israel, although it is prepared to accept an 18-month truce, while Fatah has renounced violence and puts all its hope in negotiations.

Relations were especially bitter in December and January during Israel's assault on Gaza. Some 1,300 Palestinians were killed in the operation, including about 700 civilians.

The meeting on Wednesday was the latest of several in the last few weeks to pave the way for the national dialogue.

The Palestinian groups aim to set up a government of national unity, probably of non-partisan technocrats, to deal with foreign governments, coordinate reconstruction in Gaza and prepare for Palestinian presidential and legislative elections.

An Arab diplomat said the Egyptian mediators hoped to complete an agreement in time for endorsement by an Arab summit scheduled for Qatar in late March.

But analysts say it will be difficult to reconcile the need to include Hamas's points of view in the new cabinet with U.S. and Israeli demands that it meet their conditions for dialogue.

The United States and European Union countries refuse to deal with Hamas unless it renounces violence, recognises Israel's right to exist and accepts previous agreements between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, which is run by Fatah.

One of the most difficult tasks in the dialogue will be rebuilding the Palestinian security forces, which for the past 18 months have been divided between Hamas-controlled forces in Gaza and Fatah-controlled forces in the West Bank.

Hani Habib, a political analyst in Gaza, said it would be difficult to resolve the core problems. He said the main motive for forming a unity cabinet was the desire to facilitate reconstruction in the coastal enclave.

"The parties ... may know the chances of success are dim but they want to show there is movement. Experience has taught us not to hold out much hope as long as the political will continues to be missing," he said.