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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| Ex-ambassador: Hamas thriving on Fatah's mistakes |
| 2009-10-19 |
| Ma'an -- Former Palestinian Ambassador to Egypt Nabil Amr said this weekend that the Palestinian Authority (PA) is punishing him for voicing criticism of President Mahmoud Abbas for delaying action on a UN report on war crimes in Gaza. "Currently, my relationship with President Abbas is very bad," Amr told Ma'an in an interview. Last week he claimed that the PA cancelled his security detail after he slammed Abbas over his initial decision to drop his endorsement of justice Richard Goldstone's report on the recent Israeli war on Gaza. "I don't accept that any Palestinian should be punished for his political views, and I also refuse over-exaggerated strictness in political views. I also refuse incitement, defamation, and accusation of treason. I rather prefer objective treatment of any case on condition that it is tackled with enough freedom," the former ambassador added. Amr said he doubted that Fatah would win a potential election. "If the status quo continues, and all controversial issues within Fatah and in the Palestinian arena are not addressed, our ability to win elections will be doubtful," he said. "Hamas is thriving on Fatah's mistakes, and that is why they won last elections," Amr added. Amr failed to win a seat on Fatah main governing body, the Central Committee during elections at the party's convention in Bethlehem in August. He told Ma'an this weekend that he was considering the establishment of a new political party. However, he said, this could only be announced after upcoming elections "in order to avoid any accusations that I might be disrupting Fatah during elections." He added that in his view that Palestinians' most important achievement was the creation of the Palestinian Authority. Therefore, he argued, the PA should be preserved. The majority of Palestinians should be made to feel that the PA is necessary for their security and the furtherance of their political goals. |
| Posted by:Fred |