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Monday, June 8, 2015
Report: Russia offers to host Fatah, Hamas reconciliation meeting

Report: Russia offers to host Fatah, Hamas reconciliation meeting
June 8, 2015 4:11 P.M. (Updated: June 8, 2015 4:11 P.M.)
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=765834

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Russia has offered to host a reconciliation meeting
between Hamas and Fatah in Moscow, Lebanese newspaper as-Safir reported
Monday.

The offer was reportedly made by the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail
Bogdanov, who is also the Russian President's Special Representative for the
Middle East.

According to as-Safir, Hamas had accepted the invitation while Fatah
movement had not yet given an answer.

The report added that Russia is also waiting for an official request from
President Mahmoud Abbas to host another meeting between other Palestinian
factions.

Palestinian sources told the newspaper that accepting the Russian offer
would solve the question of where to hold negotiations, though other
officials said that the matter was more complicated.

Hamas previously agreed to meet with Fatah in Cairo, but arrangements ground
to a halt after Egypt vetoed the attendance of Hamas politburo member,
Khalid Mashal, whose attendance Hamas insisted on.

Relations between Hamas and Fatah remain in a dire state a year after a
government of national consensus was formed in June 2014.

Last week, the deputy head of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, said the unity
government had not brought any humanitarian or economic progress to the Gaza
Strip since it was formed.

He said that Hamas had hoped the formation of the unity government would
bring an end to Palestinian division, but that it had so far failed in all
its objectives.

Following a high-profile visit by government ministers to Gaza that ended in
disarray in April, Minister of Labor Mamoun Abu Shahla said that the unity
government had severed all contact with Hamas.

Russia, which is widely involved in Middle East politics, has long sought to
maintain good relations with both Palestine and Israel.

According to British think-tank Chatham House, the main goal of Russian
activity in the region "is to exact leverage over the West, as Moscow's
assistance may play a crucial role in the settlement of major issues,"
including Iran's nuclear program and the Syrian conflict.

A Chatham House report in April noted that this is particularly important so
as to avoid "international isolation in the wake of sanctions over the
Ukraine crisis."

However, regarding Israel and Palestine, the report said: "The Russian
authorities do not want to sacrifice their political and economic contacts
with Israel. Bilateral trade reached $4.6 billion in 2014."

The report concluded: "Any intensification of Russian efforts towards
Palestinian independence may make the Israelis reconsider their ties with
Moscow."

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