By Xinhua
Damascus : A senior Palestinian official revealed on Sunday that the Syrian-hosted Arab summit approved the Yemeni initiative for reconciliation between rival Hamas and Fatahmovements.
Majdi el-Khalidi, a diplomatic advisor to President Mahmoud Abbas and member of the Palestinian delegation told reporters that Arab leaders accepted the Yemeni initiative and approved it.
“The Arab leaders in the 20th Arab League Summit agreed to include in the final statement a clause that says ‘the Arab efforts will continue to achieve a Palestinian reconciliation and welcomes the efforts of Yemen’,” said el-Khalidi.
Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh presented to leaders of rival Fatah and Hamas movements a seven-point reconciliation initiative, which calls on Hamas movement to end its military takeover of the Gaza Strip that began in last June, to rebuild the security appratuses and go for early presidential and legislative elections.
Fatah movement wants an immediate implementation of the initiative, while Hamas movement insists that the clauses of the initiative are to be dialogued.
El-Khalidi also said that the Arab leaders approved three Palestinian-related decisions, which would be included in the final statement issued at the end of the summit on Sunday afternoon.
He said Arab leaders agreed to extend the monthly 55 U.S. million dollars of the Arab financial aid to the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) for another Year. However, he said the Arabs had only paid 40 percent of what they pledged in the previous summits.
The second Palestinian-related decision of the summit is about the Arab peace initiative, saying that the summit will continue sticking to the initiative in order to achieve peace in the MiddleEast, El-Khaldi added.
The third Palestinian-related decision, according to el-Khalidi,is about the internal Palestinian situation and the development ofthe Palestinian cause.