DAR AL HARB/ISLAM - ISRAEL/HOLY LAND: HAMAS & FATAH SHOULD ENGAGE IN TALKS SAYS EXILED HAMAS LEADER KHALED MASHAAL

Exiled Hamas leader renews calls for dialogue with Fatah

GAZA, July 12 (Xinhua) -- Exiled Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal on Thursday renewed calls for dialogue between his group and the rival Fatah movement, adding that Hamas "demands the talks with Fatah but doesn't beg for it."

In statements distributed by Hamas media office in Gaza, Mashaal implicitly criticized Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of rival Fatah for his measures against Hamas after the latter's takeover of Gaza, saying that "he (Abbas) who closes the dialogue door has to shoulder the responsibility."

Abbas listed the main conditions for talks with Hamas, which include Hamas' recognition of the emergency government, handing over ministries, institutions and documents to it and returning matters to the pre-June 14 conditions in the Gaza Strip.

But Mashaal said that the security compounds, which were taken from Fatah to Hamas hands, should be recognized as "all the people's properties," calling on the security services to be restructured "to work for the people's interests away from the factional affiliations."

Mashaal also called for forming a national unity government for Gaza Strip and West Bank, affirming his movement doesn't want to "rule Gaza Strip single-handedly."

Mashaal reiterated his movement's strengthen, saying "Hamas is used to the toughest circumstances and who wants to punish Hamas and deprives the people from their salaries will have to bear the consequences."

Hamas also accuses Abbas of increasing public pressure on their Gaza rulers.

Last week, the Ramallah-based emergency government, set up by Abbas after the Hamas takeover of Gaza, decided to pay the full-time civil and security employees after Israel transferred 118 million U.S. dollars of the frozen tax revenues to the Palestinian Authority.

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"The reliance on America or the (Israeli) occupation is unfruitful and the legitimacy can't be made by America or Israel or by suspending the basic law," Mashaal added in his first lengthy remarks after Gaza takeover.



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1) Exiled Hamas leader renews calls for dialogue with Fatah