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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| Palestinian factions agree to hold elections by Jan. 2010 |
| 2009-03-16 |
| (Xinhua) -- The Palestinian committee in charge of the issue of elections agreed Sunday in Cairo to hold presidential and legislative elections no later than Jan. 25, 2010, reported the Egyptian MENA news agency. The committee also agreed on the formation of the Higher Elections Committee, head of the Palestine Liberation Front Wasel Abu Yousef was quoted as saying. According to earlier reports, the Palestinian committees on the reform of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), security and reconciliation have also concluded their talks. On Tuesday, five Palestinian committees started to work on different issues related to the Palestinian reconciliation. The five committees are assigned to deal with the issues of forming a Palestinian national unity government, reforming the security services, holding elections, reforming the PLO and pushing forward reconciliation. The committee on the formation of a new government is expected to finish its work on Sunday night, according to MENA. The major rift among Palestinian groups, particularly between rival Fatah and Hamas movements, is on the formation of a Palestinian government. According to Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum, Fatah wants the would-be government to absolutely observe the commitments made by the PLO, while Hamas refused this point because it indicates a recognition of Israel, which is rejected by Hamas. The pending issues of the five committees are expected to be presented to a higher supervision and guidance committee for further discussion in the coming few days. |
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