Abbas okays Hamas role in Palestinian leadership

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Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has reached an agreement in principle with Hamas leaders in Gaza on the organization's participation in PA diplomatic decision making and in a future Palestinian government, sources involved in Abbas's talks with Hamas reported yesterday.

The sources said that the details of the agreement, which Abbas reached with Hamas's Mahmoud al-Zahar and Ismail Haniyeh, will be ironed out after understandings have been reached with Israel and the international community on a cease-fire.

The main focus of the talks, the sources said, is the establishment of a "supreme diplomatic authority" to replace the PLO as the body responsible for approving any diplomatic agreement with Israel. This authority would include all the Palestinian organizations, both in the territories and abroad. Groups such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad are not part of the PLO.

Abbas and Hamas also agreed that Hamas would run candidates in the PA's parliamentary elections in July, and may even become part of the new government to be set up after these elections. However, Hamas would not participate in the government that Abbas and Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia are currently establishing.

Haaretz