Al-Sisi wants Fatah-Dahlan reconciliation

Egypt’s de facto leader, Minister of Defence Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, has stressed the importance of the reconciliation of Fatah and one of its ex-officials, Mohamed Dahlan. Relations between Cairo and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas have been strained recently due to the latter’s rift with the controversial Dahlan, informed sources told Rai Al-Youm newspaper.

The sources revealed details of a conversation between Al-Sisi and Abbas, wherein the PA chief was speaking about Palestinian reconciliation when Al-Sisi interrupted him: “Let’s put aside Palestinian reconciliation and talk instead about Fatah’s internal reconciliation,” a reference to the differences between the movement and Dahlan. Abbas responded by telling the Egyptian coup leader that Fatah “is OK” but Al-Sisi interrupted yet again, telling him, “No, it’s not OK!”

According to the media reports Al-Sisi’s remarks suggested that his message to Abbas was that Fatah needs to reconsider its decision to expel Dahlan. The minister of defence received Dahlan in Cairo recently, sending out a strong signal that the coup regime supports him.

Rai Al-Youm newspaper also reported that one of the reasons for Egypt’s disagreement with Fatah is down to what Nabil Shaath said during a meeting with Hamas leaders in February, when he described the events in Egypt last summer as a military coup. When the Egyptians heard about these remarks they placed Shaath on the list of those banned from entering the country. However, the Fatah official denied categorically that he said anything like that.