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Palestine: Hamas denies meeting Israel
Thu. December 28, 2006 06:47 am. -
Zainab Osman
(SomaliNet) Nawaf Hawatmeh, general secretary of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, told Al Jazeera that Hamas officials met Israeli officials in London and prepared what he called the "Geneva Hamas document". Hamas has denied that any such meeting took place.
In an interview broadcast on Wednesday, Hawatmeh said Ismail Haniya, the Palestinian prime minister, had given the document to Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president. The DFLP is a Damascus-based Palestinian group which advocates a tough line in confronting the Israeli occupation.
However, Hawatmeh's claim was challenged by Osama Hamdan, the Hamas representative in Lebanon. In an interview aired by Al Jazeera on Thursday, he denied that any meeting between Hamas and Israeli officials in London had taken place.
Abbas said recently that Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, had welcomed the idea of an unofficial line of communication between Palestinians and Israelis.
In another development, Israeli officials said on Thursday that Egypt has sent a large shipment of weapons to the Gaza Strip to shore up Abbas.
The shipment of 2,000 automatic rifles and ammunition was approved by Israel and escorted through its territory by police on Wednesday. The officials were speaking on condition of anonymity because the delivery had not been officially confirmed by Israel, the Palestinians or Egypt.
The weapons are meant to strengthen Palestinian security services affiliated with Abbas's Fatah, currently engaged in a violent struggle for power with Hamas, which controls the Palestinian parliament and cabinet.
News Category: World
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