Meshaal commits Hamas to accept Egypt's rulings on Palestinian reconciliation

The head of the Political Bureau of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), has said that his recent meeting with Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi covered many issues concerning the Palestinian portfolio, particularly the reconciliation process. Speaking at a press conference, Khaled Meshaal added that “all the files allow for proceeding further with the reconciliation and we hope that Egypt continues to follow up on this; we accept Egypt’s rulings and commit ourselves to its decisions.”

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In response to a question concerning rumours of a plan to give part of the Sinai Peninsula to the Palestinians, Meshaal commented: “I hope that the people of Egypt, its leadership, its security services and Egyptian public opinion can rest assured that neither Hamas nor any Palestinian can take a single inch of Sinai or other territory.” He stressed the Palestinians’ insistence on the return of Palestinian refugees to their country of Palestine. Meshaal said that he considers what is being said about this topic as “Zionist propaganda”, adding that his movement would “help the Egyptian intelligence services to restore security in Sinai for the good of Egypt”.

Mr Meshaal offered condolences to President Morsi on the death of former vice-president Omar Suleiman: “Although there were differences in views between Hamas and General Suleiman, the man was an Egyptian officer who played his role in according to the nature of his job.” He emphasised that Hamas had loyalties to Egypt even if they disagreed on some issues.

Although he said that the meeting with the President discussed the suffering of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and their need for fuel and the opening of the border crossings, Meshaal denied that he demanded that President Morsi should transfer the Palestinian portfolio from the intelligence and security services to the presidential office. “We deal with all of the institutions of the state, from the intelligence services to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the presidency, as we are an open movement.”

Regarding the statements made by the Palestinian Authority President, Mahmoud Abbas, that Hamas is disrupting the reconciliation process due to being busy with its internal elections, Meshaal stressed that the elections have nothing to do with the reconciliation because the latter is complicated, “and there are problems on the ground that must be resolved”.