TEL AVIV, Israel, June 10 (UPI) -- Heads of Hamas and the Islamic Jihad have refused to meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, the Haaretz newspaper reported Friday.
Abbas had summoned the Monitoring Commission of the Nationalist and Islamic Factions, in an effort to restore calm and resolve differences following his unilateral decision to postpone the July 17 parliamentary elections.
The leaders of Hamas and Islamic Jihad stayed away and dispatched lower level officials to the meeting, the newspaper reported.
Hamas' spokesman in the Gaza Strip, Sami Abu Zuhari, criticized the postponement of the elections and demanded that Abbas consult Hamas before changing agreements they had reached. The elections were part of a deal worked out in Cairo in March.
Observers believe Abbas postponed the elections for fear his Fatah party would lose. The official reason for the indefinite delay was the need to prepare new legislation for the elections.
Abbas also met Fatah leaders and heads of the various security forces following clashes among their men.
Participants at the meeting said the atmosphere was tense and Abbas was clearly troubled by Hamas and Islamic Jihad's leaders refusal to see him.
