Xinhua
February 8, 2012 - 1:00am
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-02/08/c_131399092.htm


RAMALLAH, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- A Palestinian committee pushing for public freedom suspended its work Wednesday because rival Hamas and Fatah parties did not consider its recommendations, sources said.

The committee will soon write to the Palestinian president and Fatah head, Mahmoud Abbas, and all the other Palestinian factions to inform them of its decision, the sources told Xinhua.

The public freedom committee, which was formed in December, months after Egypt brokered a reconciliation agreement between Fatah and Hamas, is one of the several committees for securing a smooth implementation of the agreement.

The committee demands Fatah and Hamas allow the circulation of newspapers in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip and the Fatah-ruled West Bank. It also calls for granting some Hamas-affiliated people passports issued by the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) in the West Bank.

Fatah and Hamas signed earlier this week in Doha, Qatar a declaration to form a unified transitional government for the West Bank and Gaza Strip before the elections, with Abbas as the prime minister.

The Doha declaration was criticized by some Palestinian factions, who argued that the original deal stipulated that all members of the interim government should be independents and the PNA president can not be the premier.

However, Abbas has returned to the West Bank to begin talks to form the interim government.

"The formation of the government has become easier after the prime minister was selected," said Azzam al-Ahmed, a Fatah official.

Sources said Tuesday that Hamas was likely to nominate people close to it as members of the interim government after it accepted Abbas as the interim premier.




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