Israel Matzav

Great news: 'Palestinian' factions to release each other's terrorists by year's end

“By the end of the year, all political detainees will be released except those who wish to remain in custody for special reasons related to their security both in the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip,” Ma'an quoted Munib al-Masri, who participated in the Palestinian reconciliation talks, as saying.

The security concerns pertaining to detainees who would remain in custody, he said, include both targeted killing by Israel and attacks by competing Palestinian factions before the reconciliation agreement goes into effect.

Thursday’s agreement also paved the way for the establishment of a provisional PLO leadership that would include, for the first time, Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other groups. These groups will later become incorporated into various PLO institutions, especially the Palestine National Council, the organization’s parliament-inexile.

The council is the legislative body of the PLO and elects its executive committee, the organization’s main decision-making body.

At Thursday’s discussions in Cairo, the Palestinian leaders agreed to form a committee headed by council Speaker Salim Zanoun to discuss ways of “activating and reconstructing” the PLO so that Hamas and other groups would be incorporated into the organization, Fatah and Hamas officials said.

The committee will hold its first meeting in Amman on January 15.

Labels: Hamas-Fatah reconciliation, Palestinian terrorists

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 8:50 PM