Reconciliation Committee to Start Work Immediately
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
January 12, 2012 - 1:00am

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- The committee tasked with implementing the reconciliation agreement between Hamas and Fatah has finalized all administrative preparations and will begin work immediately, committee head Rabah Mhannah said Wednesday. Speaking to reporters after a committee meeting in Gaza City, Mhannah said members were allocated aspects of the agreement to work on.

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Hamas PM Arrives in Gaza, Says Foreign Visits Broke Political Blockade
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
January 11, 2012 - 1:00am

GAZA, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haneya arrived in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday night after his first tour in years, saying that he managed to break the political blockade imposed by Israel on the enclave. "The tour broke the siege imposed on the government, on the Gaza Strip and on Palestine," Haneya said, adding that he visited the four countries mainly for the issues of "Palestine and al-Aqsa Mosque."

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The many contradictions of Mahmoud Abbas
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Khaled Abu Toameh - (Opinion) January 10, 2012 - 1:00am

Seven years have passed since Mahmoud Abbas was elected to succeed Yasser Arafat as president of the Palestinian Authority, and many Palestinians appear to be as confused as ever regarding their leader’s true intentions. Abbas ran in the January 2005 presidential election for a four-year term on a platform that promised massive reforms and changes both in the PA and the ruling Fatah faction, which he also heads.

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Anti corruption chief going after foreign accounts
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
January 3, 2012 - 1:00am

The head of the PA anti-corruption commission said on Monday that the body is working to restore public funds stashed abroad by Palestinian officials. Rafiq al-Natsheh told Ma'an that the commission is chasing corruption suspects living outside of Palestine, pending an agreement with their countries of residence. Jordanian newspaper al-Dustour reported last week that Palestinian officials are moving deposits from Jordanian banks to foreign accounts, raising fears that suspects were trying to circumvent the corruption crackdown.

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Hamas says it plans to join Fatah-dominated PLO
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
December 23, 2011 - 1:00am

Rival Palestinian factions took a significant step towards reconciliation Thursday as the Islamist group Hamas said it planned to join President Mahmoud Abbas's Palestine Liberation Organization. Abbas held a meeting in Cairo with leaders from the factions, including Hamas chief Khalid Mashaal, where a committee was formed to prepare for the inclusion of Hamas, as well as the smaller Islamic Jihad, in the PLO. There are still some serious obstacles that could prevent a final unity deal and attempts to reconcile in the past have failed.

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Jihad official: PLO membership not final
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
December 23, 2011 - 1:00am

An Islamic Jihad leader said Thursday that joining an "interim leadership framework" of the PLO did not necessarily mean it had formally joined the Palestinian body. Khaled Al-Batsh told Ma’an that joining the organization requires a clear framework for how the PLO will be restructured. He added that if there was an agreement concerning these issues, Islamic Jihad would become a member in the organization. However, if there was no agreement, the group said it was still willing to contribute.

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Officials say PNI joined PLO at Cairo talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
December 23, 2011 - 1:00am

Officials from Islamic Jihad and the Palestinian National Initiative said late Thursday that they had accepted positions on an "interim leadership" of the PLO. Ayed Yaghi, a PNI leader, said the small faction joined the PLO and that it was a natural position to take. Yaghi told Ma’an that Thursday's talks in Cairo marked a milestone in the history of the Palestinian people. He pointed out that the PNI had previously submitted a request to join the PLO in 2004.

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Abbas in a stronger position with Hamas in PLO
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Khaled Abu Toameh, Herb Keinon - December 23, 2011 - 1:00am

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will be in a stronger position to deal with Israel and the United States if Hamas joins the PLO, a senior Hamas official told pan-Arab London-based newspaper Asharq Alawsat Saturday. According to the source, who spoke to Asharq Alaqsat following productive meetings between Palestinian factions aiming to "activate" the reconstruction of of a unity Palestinian government, reconciliation of Hamas with the PA would see Abbas become president of a more united Palestinian people, instead of just a segment of it in the West Bank.

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Tensions high in Ain el-Hilweh after shooting
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
December 7, 2011 - 1:00am

Tensions ran high at the Palestinian refugee camp of Ain al-Hilweh Wednesday after an unknown assailant shot and wounded the personal bodyguard of a senior Fatah officer. A security source said the attacker opened fire with an automatic weapon at around midday on Uday Hammad, the Syrian-Palestinian personal bodyguard for the military commander of the mainstream Fatah Movement, Brig. Gen. Sobhi Abu Arab. The source, speaking to The Daily Star on condition of anonymity, said the shooting took place in the camp’s Safsaf neighborhood, a stronghold for fundamentalists.

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'Fayyad mulling PA presidential run'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Khaled Abu Toameh - December 6, 2011 - 1:00am

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas Tuesday chaired a meeting of the Fatah central committee in Ramallah amid reports that Prime Minister Salam Fayyad is planning to run in the next presidential election. Sources close to Fayyad were quoted as saying that the prime minister would present his candidacy for PA president only if Abbas decides not to run for another term.

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