The militant Palestinian group Hamas said yesterday that it was setting aside its differences with ailing Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and called for a united Palestinian leadership to work toward general elections.
It was the strongest indication yet that Hamas might take part in general elections for the first time.
PHOTO: AP
Hamas, whose suicide bombings against Israelis have often torpedoed Arafat's own peace bids with Israel, rejects the existence of a Jewish state.
Up to now, Hamas has refused to take part in elections or any other processes linked to the Palestinian Authority, because Hamas rejects the interim peace accords with Israel that set up Arafat's administration.
Hamas, Arafat's main rival, boycotted the only Palestinian general election, in 1996. A date for a new election has not been set, but a voter registration was recently concluded, and Hamas took part in that.
The sudden turn for the worse in Arafat's health prompted questions about the power vacuum the 75-year-old Palestinian Authority president would leave behind if he dies.
In a rare show of Palestinian unity, Ismail Haniyeh, a leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip wished Arafat well in TV interviews broadcast early yesterday.
``Hamas, confirming its honor, credibility and honesty, sets aside political differences at this humanitarian moment in confronting the Zionists and in confronting the effects of the siege against the Palestinian people and President Yasser Arafat,'' he said in comments on al-Jazeera.
``We wish President Arafat a quick recovery and we wish that the siege against the entire Palestinian people and President Arafat is broken,'' Haniyeh added.
In comments broadcast by al-Arabiya satellite TV station, Haniyeh called for ``formation of a united national leadership or a high Palestinian authority based on a political program and to prepare for Palestinian general elections.''
Hamas has in the past repeatedly called for a joint leadership to decide Palestinian future policies.
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