Hamas, Fatah to sign peace pact - Egypt

Cairo, 07 Oct-(ANA)-Rival Palestinian factions, Hamas and Fatah, are to sign an Egyptian-brokered reconciliation pact in Cairo on 25 October, the Egyptian authorities have said.

State news agency MENA quoted Egypt’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Hossam Zaki as saying  Arab foreign ministers will be invited to attend the ratification ceremony.

Egypt has been mediating for over a year to heal the split between the Fatah group of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas since the Islamist movement took control of the Gaza Strip in a brief civil war.

The pact, if signed, could pave the way for presidential and parliamentary elections to be held next year.

Fatah administers the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Hamas rules Gaza -- the two territories where Palestinians want to establish their future state following a peace deal with Israel.

The pact calls for a joint committee of members from Hamas, Fatah and other political parties that would liaise between the internationally isolated Hamas government in Gaza and Abbas's Western-backed Palestinian Authority in Ramallah.

Hamas would also be able to supervise a joint police force in Gaza in the run-up to the June elections, something Fatah sees as cementing Hamas control there after what it calls the "coup" of June 2007. (ANA)

FA/ANA/07 October 2009---