PLO Political Bureau Chief, Farouq Al-Qaddoumi, Assigns Blame to Both Fateh and Hamas for Rise in Internal Violence

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PLO Chief assigns blame to both Fatah and Hamas for rise in internal violence

Date: 27 / 12 / 2006 Time: 11:25

Bethlehem - Ma'an –

The head of the PLO political bureau, Farouq Al-Qaddoumi has leveled blame at both Hamas leaders and the office of the president for the rise in hostility in the internal Palestinian situation.

He accused both sides of retaining the money they raised for the payment of public sector employees, without giving it to the workers.

Speaking to the UAE daily, Al-Bayan, during his visit to Cairo, Al-Qaddoumi said that the political ravine between himself and President Abbas had widened during his recent visit to Damascus. The PLO political chief had met there with Hamas leader Khalid Mesha'al to engage him in talks over a new dialogue to form the national unity government.

Despite meeting with the most senior Hamas leader in exile, Al-Qaddoumi still part-blamed the Hamas movement for the recent violent developments: "Some of the members of the Hamas government are taking decisions, such as the formation of the Executive Force and some of the decisions taken by the Foreign Ministry, which result in raising tension across the Palestinian arena."

Al-Qaddoumi, however, refused to blame Hamas alone for the deterioration of the internal situation, saying that "both the government and the presidency are responsible for what is going on".

Al-Bayan also quoted Al-Qaddioumi as sharing the blame for the non-deliverance of salaries on both the government and the presidency, stating that "[President] Abbas gathered money from some Arab countries, but he did not pay it to the people. The Hamas movement gathered money from the Islamic countries, but it paid the money to the Hamas people, instead of paying it to Palestinians in general".

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The Israeli Land-Grab Apartheid Wall built inside the Palestinian territories, here separating Abu Dis from occupied East Jerusalem. (IPC, 7/4/04).

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