AMMAN, Jordan, April 24 (UPI) -- Arab press roundup for April 24:
Jordan's al-Rai Monday quoted Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas as criticizing Hamas political chief Khaled Mishaal for accusing the leadership in Fatah of plotting with Israel and the United States to topple the Hamas-led Palestinian government. Mishaal's fiery speech in Damascus unleashed internal clashes in the Palestinian territories. In an interview with the mass-circulation daily, Abbas described himself as "a man who likes to act, not talk, and tries to gather material and moral support for the just Palestinian cause." He told the paper, partially owned by the Jordanian government, the Palestinians were now in need of security, stability and making a living, saying that "speeches and squabbling only obstruct movement and lessens the friends." He urged all Palestinians against even thinking about a civil war, saying that will harm their cause and affect only those "steadfast on their lands, while the voices emerging from here or there in rallies are sparking the fire of sedition." Abbas added the Palestinians should not "row against the current, for we need all the Arab and international support we can get to resolve our cause to establish security and stability in the region." He insisted that Palestinian groups who oppose this trend "from some capitals seem they don't know the reality of the Palestinians, nor what the world is thinking or what is happening around us." The Palestinian leader stressed the Palestinian government must be committed to the decisions of the Palestine Liberation Organization and the agreements it signed with Israel. He said Hamas should realize that "opposition is not government, for the Palestinian government deals with the reality around it, but the movement (Hamas) can oppose as it wants." Abbas added that any elected government must be committed to all agreements signed by previous ones, and this applies to a Hamas government.
The Palestinian al-Quds daily said in its editorial the Egyptian-brokered understanding reached between Fatah and Hamas to stem the backlash of Mishaal's speech shows that both sides are keen to prevent internal Palestinian fighting. The independent Jerusalem-based paper said the Fatah-Hamas agreement should be used as a start for better coordination and cooperation between the presidency of the Palestinian Authority (led by Fatah's Abbas) and the Hamas-led government. Such cooperation would prevent future internal crises and contribute to strengthening national unity, it said. The moderate daily said dialogue that includes all other Palestinian factions was also necessary to place working mechanisms and "red lines that cannot be violated, especially internal fighting." The latest crisis, it remarked, showed the effect statements by officials have, saying it was time to eliminate all forms of accusations against each other.
The London-based al-Hayat commented that it was important Mishaal's remarks don't lead to sedition, "which Israel is seeking." The Saudi-financed daily said the latest clashes should be used to contain the relationship between the Palestinian presidency and government; otherwise, both sides will be hurt. It added there is no deep dialogue to organize the relationship between the two sides to avert a crisis that could erupt any time. The paper, distributed in most Arab capitals, said there is supposed to be laws regulating this relationship, but that since a struggle over power positions erupted, the Palestinian Authority found itself between two parties with two different agendas. It argued the presidency of the PA seeks to build on "the strategic gains achieved for the Palestinian people, while the Hamas government sees itself as having been elected to change the rules of the game, especially since Israel drew the boundaries of this game." The discrepancy needs a serious dialogue that would allow Hamas to recognize the PLO and respect the agreements reached, it said, adding that such a dialogue, with Arab support to help the Palestinians, would prevent a deterioration of the Palestinian situation.
Syria's official al-Thawra said in a commentary that despite the internal ethnic and sectarian clashes in Iraq, Egypt, Palestine, Lebanon and Turkey in varying degrees, civil wars are far-fetched, but the incidents are serious. The government-owned daily opined these conditions constitute a time-bomb that could be exploited by the United States, saying despite Washington's failure in Iraq or elsewhere, it "succeeded in many steps in characterizing animosity in the region." The internal chaos, it warned, will facilitate the American plans in the area without it having to resort to new wars.
The United Arab Emirates' al-Khaleej said the political breakthrough in Iraq by choosing a new prime minister and electing a president represents an opportunity for Iraqis to reconsider "the way of dealing with national issues." The pro-government daily's editorial added the country's political and religious leaders must take responsibility to abandon their links with the occupation, as well as ethnic and sectarian quotas. Sectarian quotas, it insisted, have deepened divisions and encouraged fanaticism in the country. Efforts to form a new government should be based on nationality, not on sectarian loyalties that could be at the expense of Iraq, it warned. "This is an opportunity for Iraq to exit from the cycle of occupation, fire and blood to start the journey of a thousand miles to rebuild and unite," it commented.
