Egypt has not abandoned its work on Palestinian reconciliation despite repeated delays and disappointments, an informed source in the government told Al-Masry Al-Youm. Palestinian sources, however, reported that Egypt may abandon reconciliation if an agreement is not reached soon. High-ranking Palestinian sources said yesterday that Egyptian officials are angry with Hamas for the group’s refusal to sign a reconciliation agreement drafted by the Egyptians. Hamas announced last week it would not sign the agreement after the Palestinian movement accused Egypt of adding new stipulations at the last minute. Cairo believes the Hamas leadership is subject to pressure from other countries to obstruct reconciliation in order to affect Egypt’s regional role, the Palestinian sources said. Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman and other officials aware of the details of the negotiations will soon issue a complete report on the reconciliation efforts. The report will include points that Hamas rejected in Egypt’s recent paper on reconciliation, according to the Palestinain officials. Egypt will request that the Arab League hold an emergency meeting of foreign ministers in which Cairo will present its report on Palestinian reconciliation and publicly state which parties Egypt believes are responsible for derailing the negotiations, the sources said. Following the presentation to the Arab League, the Egyptian delegation will declare that it is permanently abandoning its role in Palestinian reconciliation, the sources said. Translated from the Arabic Edition.
