Sunday 18 October 2009

Abbas slams Fatah officials for faulting his delay of Goldstone’s report


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[ 18/10/2009 - 09:49 AM ]

RAMALLAH, (PIC)-- Former ex-chief of the Palestinian Authority (PA) Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday strongly denounced some of his aides and Fatah officials for admitting that the withdrawal of Goldstone’s report was a mistake, alleging that what happened came in the natural course of events and under his direct orders.

“When some started to say repeatedly we made a mistake…We made a mistake about what? Who read the report? Even those in Geneva did not read the report because it needed a translation,” Abbas said in a speech before the Fatah revolutionary council in Ramallah.

“Let’s say we have seen it…Ask yourselves why we made a mistake and why we say that! Is it because we want to face the campaign of Hamas? I am very upset at such acts,” he added.

In his speech, Abbas also sprang a surprise that would torpedo all reconciliation efforts, when he revealed that he agreed with Cairo on making the reconciliation agreement fulfil the international quartet’s terms and what he called the constitution of the Palestine liberation organization (PLO).

Abbas admitted that he sent a letter to Cairo in response to the Egyptian reconciliation paper that included his rejection of any reconciliation agreement that does not get the Israeli siege lifted, explaining that this means that any agreement, which is contrary to the "international legitimacy" and ends up like Makkah accord, would not be accepted.

He also aborted the Egyptian reconciliation efforts, when he declared he would hold unilateral presidential and legislative elections on January 25, 2010.

Abbas acknowledged that he contacted Israeli war minister Ehud Barak in order to obtain the radio frequencies of the new telecom operator, revealing that PA officials had paid bribes to Israeli officials in order to prevent the new company from getting these frequencies in the context of conflicting interests that exist between the company of Jawal (the leading provider of mobile phone service in Palestine) and the new telecom operator.

In another context related to the elections, spokesman for the Palestinian government in Gaza Taher Al-Nunu deplored the talk of Yasser Abedrabbo, a member of the PLO executive committee, about holding elections in case the reconciliation failed.

Nunu affirmed that his Movement is not afraid of holding elections on condition that there should be a mechanism to prevent any falsification of the Palestinian people’s will.

He noted that the acts of forgery and manipulation are a systematic policy pursued by Fatah faction, citing as an example the electoral fraud that happened during its sixth conference.

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