Egypt

Seating squabble delays Palestinian reconciliation ceremony

A ceremony to mark Palestinian reconciliation has been delayed because of disagreements between Hamas and Fatah on ceremonial protocols, a Palestinian source said.

Despite their signing of the historic agreement, apparent tensions between the factions still linger; the ceremony was delayed two hours when Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas refused to sit next to Khaled Meshaal, head of Hamas' political bureau, said the source, who refused to be identified.

Other Palestinian factions joined the agreement, which Egypt helped broker, on Tuesday in Cairo. 

The ceremony was scheduled for Wednesday at the Egyptian General Intelligence Service headquarters.

The source said the number of speeches also caused disagreement.

Egyptian officials wanted only Abbas, Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil al-Araby, Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa and the Egyptian intelligence chief to speak, but other delegations insisted on delivering their own speeches.

The source added that the Egyptian intelligence delegation intervened to end the disagreements.

The agreement includes provisions for the formation of a transitional government and an electoral committee, as well as the release of both Fatah and Hamas prisoners.

 

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