PA security apparatuses escalate arrests in lines of Hamas supporters [ 20/06/2011 - 11:57 AM ]
WEST BANK, (PIC)-- PA security apparatuses escalated arrest campaigns in lines of supporters of the Hamas movement in the West Bank over the past two days despite the signing of the Fatah-Hamas reconciliation agreement.
Locals reported the detention of 11 Hamas supporters in the governorates of Nablus, Ramallah, and Qalqilia.
Most of the detainees were former prisoners in Israeli jails or students especially in Nablus while in Ramallah two brothers were detained after being released to attend funeral of a relative. They were serving a nine months sentence and served more than eight and a half months and were captured anew to complete ten days remaining in their sentence.
The PA intelligence rearrested liberated prisoner Mohsen Shreim from his workplace in Qalqilia after his nephew was shot and arrested by the Israeli occupation forces for his alleged attempt to assault a soldier.
[ 20/06/2011 - 11:37 AM ]
GAZA, (PIC)-- The Ahrar prisoner studies and human rights center in Gaza warned that the release of political prisoners held by West Bank security agencies should not be subject to meetings held by Palestinian political leaders.
The security agencies operating in Fatah-controlled territory have continued to persecute Hamas supporters after the signing of a deal to unify the split Palestinian government in early May. Fatah chief Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas’s political bureau chairman Khalid Mishaal were scheduled to meet Thursday in Cairo to discuss details of an interim government ahead of elections due for September, but the meeting was postponed indefinitely signaling likely discord.
Ahrar center director Fuad al-Khuffash said that as long as politicians continue to consider the Palestinian citizen to be the country’s most precious asset, they must implement that on the ground instead of just on paper.
The reconciliation deal signed by Fatah and Hamas stipulated the release of all political prisoners.
Khuffash said their names should be changed from “political prisoners” to “political hostages”, as their release is subject to concessions or approvals or the signing of decisions and the approval of a new prime minister.
Separately, the committee of families of West Bank political prisoners has announced that families in Al-Khalil will protest noon Monday at Ibn Rushd Square in the city, just before the scheduled meeting between Hamas and Fatah.
They said the peaceful sit-in aimed at pressuring meeting parties would continue until all political prisoners are released.
The committee announced it has postponed another sit-in slated for Tuesday at Duwar al-Shuhada Square in Nablus until further notice.
The same committee held a sit-in that included several Palestinian politicians at that very location, but it was violently dispersed by security services.
Hamas-Fatah Meeting Postponed
Local Editor
A planned meeting between Hamas and Fatah aimed at reaching a deal over a new unity government was delayed after the two movements failed to agree on a prime minister.Fatah officials told the Reuters news agency that the meeting, scheduled for Tuesday, between Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who heads Fatah, and Hamas Chief Khaled Meshaal, had been postponed.
"We asked our brothers and the Egyptian leadership to postpone the meeting for several days," said Azzam al-Ahmed, head of the Fatah delegation to unity talks in Cairo.
"We will call them in a few days to set a date for a new meeting, and we hope the next session will be successful," he told Reuters.
For his part, Hamas spokesperson Taher Al-Nono confirmed that Fatah asked for a delay.
"We are ready to meet once they are," Al-Nono told Reuters.
A statement issued earlier from the office of the head of Hamas' administration in Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh, said: "The meeting may be postponed and this will have serious implications for the discussions on forming the government."
The unity deal was reached after both groups agreed to a reconciliation deal in April, when the rival factions agreed to form an administration of ministers without party affiliations, to prepare for general elections within a year.
Fatah, led by Western-backed Abbas, nominated Salam Fayyad, a former World Bank economist who currently heads the government in the West Bank, to the post.
However, Hamas has rejected Fayyad, accusing him of co-operating with Israel's blockade on Gaza.
One Fatah officials, who asked not be identified, attributed the delay to the dispute over appointing Fayyad.
- Resheq: Fatah asked for postponement of Tuesday meeting
- Haneyya: More talks needed before forming unity government
Uprooted Palestinian
No comments:
Post a Comment