http://www.isn.ethz.ch/news/sw/details.cfm?id=10971
Cairo declaration signals birth of new PLO Bakir Rahmanovic ISN ISN SECURITY WATCH (18/03/05) - Three days of talks between Palestinian factions ended on Thursday with initial agreement on the integration of all signatory groups into the Palestinian Liberation Organization and Palestinian Authority (PA) institutions. All groups will play a role in the shaping of internal Palestinian reforms and in the maintenance of a provisional ceasefire with Israel. But while some observers view the development as extremely significant, the US and Israel have remained cautious. The conference, held in Sixth of October City near Cairo, was to have continued for another three days, but ended early with a six-point agreement signed by all factions. The PA, as well as conference sponsors Syria and Egypt, had hoped to convince the Islamist and opposition factions to agree to a formal year-long ceasefire that would hold regardless of Israeli military activities in the Occupied Territories. This proposal was firmly rejected. Article 2 of the Cairo Declaration does not specify the duration of the "period of calm" to be observed by all signatory factions. A member of the Hamas negotiating team, Mohammed Nazzal, confirmed that the informal ceasefire would last through to the end of the year. Hamas and Islamic Jihad reserved the right to end the ceasefire unilaterally in response to Israeli attacks. The release of prisoners is also identified in the final document as a key demand for the maintenance of the period of calm. It also identifies the continued expansion of Jewish settlements, construction of the "separation fence", and the forced Judaization of Jerusalem as "violations that justify ending" the de facto ceasefire. Israel's refusal to allow the release of Ahmed Saadat, the leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), from a Jericho jail led to the PFLP's refusal to fully endorse the Cairo Declaration. Saadat is accused by Israel of having planned the assassination of Tourism Minister Rehavam Ze'evi in October 2001. Syrian pressure on the Damascus-based organization probably led to the PFLP's grudging acceptance of the ceasefire agreement. All of the small Damascus-based organiz ations accepted PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas' invitation to move their central offices to Gaza in the wake of the Israeli withdrawal this summer. They will play secondary roles to the major players Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and Fatah in the commission that will guide the progressive reform of Palestinian institutions. A reform of the Palestinian election system, which will shift to a mixed proportional and regional-based system, was agreed in Cairo. Details are to be finalized in upcoming negotiations before they are implemented in the May municipal and July national elections. The move is a significant concession by Abbas that ends Fatah domination of the PA political system and constitutes a profound move towards truly democratic, representative institutions. Israel and the US responded cautiously to the Cairo Declaration. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon commented that the conference was a "positive first step" that must be followed by the disarming of terrorist organizations before peace negotiations could begin. A spokesman for the US State Department described the conference's achievements as "incremental" and "provisional", and said they had not gone as far as the US would have liked. (By Dominic Moran in Tel Aviv) ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Give underprivileged students the materials they need to learn. 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