Dahlan fails to hold anti-Abbas conference in Cairo

Disgraced former Fatah leader Mohamed Dahlan has failed in his bid to hold an “anti-Abbas” conference for his followers from the secular movement in Cairo, Arabi21.com reported on Wednesday. If it had gone ahead, the conference would have deepened the divisions within Fatah.

According to Arabi21, it had information that Palestinian Authority President and Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas had exerted a lot of effort to undermine the conference. Apparently, he warned officials and members that they would be sacked or have their salaries cut if they attended the event.

A Palestinian source reported by Arabi21 said that 17 members of the Fatah Revolutionary Council and 150 cadres from the Gaza Strip would still have attended the conference if it had gone ahead. Dahlan was planning to arrange for their travel into Egypt from Gaza through the closed Rafah Border Crossing.

Following the cancellation, Dahlan issued a statement announcing that it was put off after an agreement by Fatah’s “real” sons who are concerned about its “unity”. They have left the door for consultation open until further measures are taken, the statement said.

The news about the conference came after reports of a leaked recording of a conversation between Dahlan and the Egyptian intelligence official in charge of the Palestinian file, Colonel Wael Al-Safti. In the recording, Al-Safti is clearly flattering Dahlan and insults Abbas and other Palestinian officials, including Hamas leaders who visit Cairo.

A couple of days before the recording was released, news reports said that four Arab countries, including Egypt and the UAE, had put pressure on Abbas to reinstate Dahlan and give him power inside Fatah and the PA. The four countries also asked Abbas to give him and his people the chance to stand in the now cancelled local elections.