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PLO Central Council calls on Hamas to resume dialogue

By Xinhua

Ramallah : The Palestinian Central Council (PCC) of Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Monday called on Islamic Hamas movement to resume inter-Palestinian dialogue.

The PCC made the call at the end of a two-day-long meeting which kicked off on Sunday evening at President Mahmoud Abbas’ headquarters in Ramallah.

Chaired by Abbas, the meeting discussed the current situation in the Palestinian territories and developments in the peace negotiations with Israel on permanent status issues.

“We call on Hamas movement to positively response to President Abbas initiative by ending its military coup in the Gaza Strip, and pave the road for holding early elections based on the proportional system,” Ahmed Abdel Rahman, Abbas’ aide for PLO affairs, read the final statement of the meeting.

Abbas Sunday conditioned the resumption of dialogue with Hamas, saying that “It should first end its coup and regret it. Second it should recognize the PLO and the agreement it had signed, and the third is to go for early elections.”

“These are our conditions and we are not going to change them,” said Abbas.

Hamas, which ousted Abbas security forces and took control of the Gaza Strip in mid June, had rejected Abbas initiative and called for holding an unconditioned dialogue based on previous agreements.

Meanwhile, the PCC urged Israel to stop what it called “the military aggression against our people,” and called on the UN Security Council to issue a resolution against Israel “to end its aggression.”

The PCC statement also called for reactivating the institutions of the PLO, reiterating that “the PLO is the sole and legitimate representative of the Palestinian people and it should gain more support by all powers and factions.”