Syria keen to broker Fatah, Hamas deal, says Kerry

FOLLOWING TALKS with President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus on Saturday, US senator John Kerry announced that Syria is prepared to help in the formation of a Palestinian unity government.

Mr Kerry, chairman of the influential foreign relations committee, said: “If you achieve that, then you have made a major step forward not only in dealing with the problems of Gaza but [also] in terms of how you reignite discussions for a two-state solution” of the Palesti- nian-Israeli dispute.

Although disagreements remain on some issues, he said, there is “the possibility of real co-operation on a number of different issues beginning immediately, beginning soon”.

His comments in Damascus itself are likely to give impetus to efforts by Egypt to broker reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas in talks set to take place in Cairo on Wednesday. Hamas’s Damascus-based politburo scuppered unity talks scheduled for last November although Mahmoud al-Zahar, a senior Hamas figure from Gaza had prepared to participate. Last week George Mitchell, the Obama administration’s special envoy to the region, also said that Washington wished to see the formation of a Fatah-Hamas unity government.

Mr Mitchell, a former Northern Ireland mediator, gave his backing to Egyptian efforts to broker reconciliation and said Palestinian divisions were an obstacle to progress in the moribund peace process which he seeks to reinvigorate. The envoy revealed that he plans to take up residence in Jerusalem to pursue negotiations leading to the emergence of a Palestinian state side by side with Israel.

Since Mr Kerry conferred with US secretary of state Hillary Clinton before embarking on his Middle East tour and Mr Mitchell has the ear of President Barack Obama, their statements appear to indicate a break with the Bush administration’s policy of shunning Damascus, discouraging Palestinian reconciliation efforts, and distancing the US from the peace process.

The Hamas-Fatah split came in 2006 when Hamas won a majority of seats in the Palestinian parliament. The rift intensified in 2007 when Hamas seized power in Gaza after US-backed Fatah attempted to mount a coup against Hamas. This left the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority in charge of the West Bank but deprived it of credi- bility as a negotiating partner.

US and EU officials argue that until a Palestinian unity government is formed, a long-term truce between Hamas and Israel cannot be agreed, Israel’s blockade of Gaza cannot be lifted, and Gaza’s reconstruction cannot take place.