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Syria-based Palestinian groups reschedule their conference
meant to match Annapolis for Jan. 23
AP, January 2,
2008
DAMASCUS,
Syria: Syria-based Palestinian factions opposed to peace
with Israel decided Wednesday to hold their regional
conference later this month in the Syrian capital, a
Palestinian official said.
The meeting —
which initially was envisaged as the radical Palestinians'
rival to the U.S.-hosted conference in Annapolis, Maryland —
will take place Jan. 23-25th here, said Talal Naji, a
ranking official with the Popular Front for the Liberation
of Palestine-General Command.
The meeting was
first announced in October, then postponed for November, but
failed to take place at the same time as the Annapolis
conference.
Naji said the
Damascus meeting would be titled: "Sticking to national
rights of the Palestinian people: national unity is the road
to liberation and return."
Invitations
would be sent to "all Palestinian factions," Naji said,
including Fatah, the Palestinian Liberation Organization and
the Palestinian National Council.
Moderate
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and U.S. allies in the
Arab world have criticized the announced meeting in Syria,
but that criticism was rejected by the deputy head of the
radical Hamas in Damascus, Moussa Abu Marzouk.
Syria is home
to the exiled leaders of Hamas, the militant faction that
routed Abbas' Fatah faction from the Gaza Strip in June
clashes, precipitating the worst Palestinian split to date,
and the Islamic Jihad, another smaller militant Palestinian
faction.
Also based in
Damascus are the Popular Front for the Liberation of
Palestine, the Democratic Front for the Liberation of
Palestine, the PFLP-General Command and five other smaller
factions.
Abu Marzouk
said before Annapolis that the purpose of the Damascus
gathering was "to send a clear message to the international
community and the United States that ... (Abbas) does not
represent the Palestinian people in these negotiations."
Syria wields
huge influence on Palestinian factions opposed to Abbas and
U.S.-led Mideast peacemaking, but it is not clear whether it
played a role in gettinng the hard-line factions to postpone
their meeting for after Annapolis.
The Maryland
conference relaunched Palestinian-Israeli peace negotiations
that had been stalled during the past seven years of
Israeli-Palestinian violence.
Syria for its
part improved ties with the U.S. by attending the Annapolis
meeting.
However, that
improvement recently waned amid Western accusations Damascus
was obstructing efforts to resolve the political deadlock in
Lebanon, where Syria backs the Hezbollah-led opposition. |
