[Jerusalem Post] Khaled Abu Toameh - The PA has warned Egypt against striking a deal with Hamas over controlling the Rafah border crossing separating Gaza from Egypt, a senior PA official in Ramallah said Monday. Mahmoud Abbas is scheduled to visit Cairo on Wednesday. "Hamas can't be a legitimate party to any deal because it seized power [in Gaza] through a violent coup," the official said. Syria-based Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal is reported to have won the backing of Saudi Arabia for including Hamas in any deal on the border, sources close to Hamas said. A U.S.-brokered 2005 agreement gave Abbas and his Fatah party control over the Rafah border crossing, and also saw EU monitors stationed there. Taher al-Nunu, a spokesman for the Hamas government in Gaza, voiced strong opposition to the return of the EU monitors or any other third party to the Rafah border crossing.
2008-01-30 01:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive