CAIRO, October 3 (RIA Novosti) - A possible conclusion of a reconciliation pact between the rival Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas may help Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas to regain control of the Gaza, an Egyptian newspaper reported.
Al Ahram cited official Egyptian sources as saying that one of the provisions in the mooted reconciliation pact "envisages the return of the Gaza back under the control of the PNA [the Palestinian National Authority] headed by Abbas."
The newspaper earlier reported that the document between Hamas and Fatah will be signed in the Egyptian capital of Cairo on October 22.
Egypt plays the role of mediator between the two factions, which until recently had no direct dialogue. Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal said Monday that a reconciliation agreement could be signed in October.
In early September Cairo put forward a new document to reconcile the two largest Palestinian factions, which split in June 2007 when Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip and pushed the Fatah movement out of the enclave. The six previous rounds of reconciliation talks resulted in failure.
The document also envisions general elections to be held in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank in the first half of 2010, a reform of Palestinian security services under the Egyptian control and the release of political prisoners by both factions.
Armed clashes between Fatah and Hamas came some 18 months after Hamas had won Palestinian parliamentary elections in 2006. Fatah has renounced violence, while Hamas refuses to recognize Israel and reserves the right to use violence in its struggle to create a Palestinian state.
