Hamas: Abbas not fit to conclude prisoners exchange deal

[ 27/04/2010 - 04:23 PM ]

DAMASCUS, (PIC)-- Hamas said that Mahmoud Abbas, the PA chief whose term in office expired last year, was not fit to conclude an honorable prisoners' exchange deal with the Israeli occupation authority (IOA).

The movement was commenting on Tuesday on Abbas's statement to the Israeli TV 2nd channel on his preparedness to conclude the deal.

It said that the man who sanctions security coordination with the IOA to prosecute resistance elements after labeling them as outlawed militias, and who arrests hundreds of Palestinians for supporting resistance, and who is unable to protect holy shrines and West Bank cities and villages is not fit to conclude an honorable exchange deal.

Hamas held the Zionist government of Benjamin Netanyahu fully responsible for not concluding the swap deal, affirming insistence on an honorable deal that would set free the biggest number of prisoners.

For his part, Dr. Yousef Rizka, the political advisor to Palestinian premier Ismail Haneyya, said that Abbas's statement was a political maneuver.

He said in a press release on Tuesday that Abbas feared the growing popularity of Hamas in the event such a deal was concluded and at the same time was trying to win popularity in the Palestinian street.



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