Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas said on Saturday that his secular Fatah movement would meet its Islamist rival Hamas only after the hardline faction signs an Egypt-sponsored reconciliation deal.
"When Hamas signs the reconciliation, there will immediately be a meeting with (Hamas leader) Khaled Meshaal, between Fatah and Hamas, and between all the factions to apply what is contained in the Egyptian document," Abbas told reporters after meeting President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo.
"There is nothing to add or amend to the Egyptian document," he said, referring to modifications requested by Hamas.
Egypt’s efforts to reunite the rival factions have so far failed, and Cairo has twice postponed a planned signing of the accord because of the deep divisions between Hamas and Fatah.
Hamas routed Fatah from the Gaza Strip in 2007 after deadly fighting, a year after winning Palestinian legislative elections.
Tensions with Egypt soared after Hamas refused to sign the deal, and were exacerbated by Egypt’s construction of an underground barrier on its border with Gaza.
But in an interview with Egyptian editors, Abbas said he supported the building of the controversial barrier, which seeks to stem smuggling through a network of underground tunnels linking Egypt to Gaza.
"The steel wall does not seek to starve the Palestinian people… the tunnels are used to smuggle whiskey, drugs and Mercedes cars," Abbas said in the interview published in Al-Ahram.
"As for the humanitarian goods, thousands of tons enter (Gaza) through the border points," Abbas said.
The tunnels are mainly used for food, fuel and household appliances, Hamas also uses them to import weapons into the territory and send fighters abroad for training.
