Palestinian rivals welcome Yemen's mediation

MIDDLE EAST:Fatah and Hamas have welcomed a mediation effort between the two groups proposed by Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh.

While Fatah spokesman Ahmad Abdel Rahman called yesterday for the involvement of all Palestinian factions, Khalid Mishaal, head of Hamas's politburo, imposed no conditions on participation.

Yemen's intervention follows the release of a 40-page report, After Gaza, by the International Crisis Group (ICG), which argues that Hamas and Fatah "must cease hostile action against each other . . . reverse steps that are entrenching separation between Gaza and the West Bank, and negotiate a new powersharing agreement".

The ICG, the broad-based conflict management NGO, warns Israel and the West they should not seek to perpetuate the split caused by Hamas's takeover of Gaza in June in the hope that Gaza will decline economically to the point that Hamas's rule will collapse and Israel will be able to reach a peace deal with the government formed by Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas. The report says that isolating Hamas while boosting development in the West Bank will strengthen Hamas's radical wing and increase the movement's motivation to sabotage any deal reached between Mr Abbas and Israel.

This analysis was bolstered by the call by the deputy head of the UN Relief and Works Agency, Filippo Grandi, for the opening by Israel of goods and passenger crossing points into Gaza.

Closure has brought the strip to the brink of economic collapse, risking the creation of a climate of hopelessness and despair which would foster extremism. Manufacturing has lost half a million dollars a day since Israel imposed a blockade on imports in mid-June and the UN agency has been unable to carry out $93 million in construction projects due to the lack of building materials. Mr Grandi said Gaza will be 100 per cent aid-dependent within weeks if the siege persists.