CAIRO: Arab foreign ministers met in Cairo Wednesday to work out how to deal with Hamas after the group rejected reconciliation talks aimed at ending the division between the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
The meeting comes three days after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, whose Fatah movement controls the West Bank, threatened to call elections early next year if his Hamas rivals controlling Gaza don t open reconciliation talks – an ultimatum that could deepen the rift.
Arab League Amr Moussa who called the Wednesday emergency meeting said Arabs should not accept any political vacuum in Palestinian Authority and not tolerate a division in the Palestinian ranks.
Hamas has rejected Abbas threat to call the elections, widely seen as an effort to pressure the group and pave the way for Abbas to restore his authority over Gaza.
According to diplomats at the meeting in Cairo, Abbas is pressuring Arab countries to punish Hamas for its refusal to give up control of the Mediterranean strip. They say, however, that the Arab stand is not unified and that some countries, such as Qatar and Syria, favor a softer approach to accommodate the militant movement.
The diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the talks, said Moussa also made it clear he would not support any condemnation or isolation of Hamas at this point.
Syria has proposed that the meeting discuss plans to end the Israeli economic blockade on Gaza, a key Hamas demand.
Egypt s Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit, whose nation sponsored the failed reconciliation talks, is to address the gathering and detail the real picture, according to his spokesman, Hossam Zaki.
Hamas and Fatah have been bitter rivals and their confrontation escalated after Hamas fighters violently seized control of Gaza in June 2007.
Abbas, who controls only the West Bank, enjoys backing from the international community, while the Hamas regime in Gaza is widely shunned.
Repeated attempts at reconciliation have failed, most recently this month when Hamas abruptly canceled its participation in Egyptian-mediated talks in Cairo.
The Arab ministers are also expected to discuss the stalled Middle East peace talks.
