Gee, didn’t this look interesting?
Qatar to push mediation talks in Mideast
CAIRO, Egypt — Qatar’s foreign minister headed to Gaza on Monday to talk with Hamas as part of a new and aggressive role for the tiny Gulf nation: pushing mediation efforts on Mideast issues ranging from Sudan to the Palestinians to the stalemate over Israeli prisoners.Qatar’s efforts are expected to infuriate regional heavyweights Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, which the United States has been relying on to try to stifle Hamas and other radical groups.
On Sunday, Qatar’s Foreign Minister Sheik Hamad bin Jassem al Thani traveled to the Syrian capital, Damascus, to meet exiled Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal to try to end the standoff between the Islamic militant group and the rival Fatah faction.
Moussa Abu Marzouq, Mashaal’s deputy, acknowledged Qatar presented various ideas during talks Monday but declined to give details. “There is an in-depth discussion about the Qatari ideas, but so far we haven’t made a reply,” he told The Associated Press.
Wow! A new player, with street cred! Think they can convince the bad guys to stop killing Israelis?
Qatar is a major supplier of cash to Hamas.
Oh. Maybe not. Perhaps this is yet another showpiece from the Arab world. Because Qatar, let us not forget, is the country that brings us Al Jazeerah, AKA Jihad-TV. And Qatar fully supports palestinian terrorism; they’ve been giving money to Hamas since before they were elected murderers-in-chief.
But let’s put all that aside for a moment and see how the negotiations went. Are they all fixed? Are the pals all pals again?
Nope.
Mediation efforts by Qatar’s foreign minister failed to resolve a stalemate between rival Palestinian leaders that has prevented the formation of a unity government, a senior Palestinian official said on Tuesday.
The impasse has triggered the worst internal fighting in over a decade as the Hamas-led Palestinian government of Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh became embroiled in a bitter power struggle with President Mahmoud Abbas of the once-dominant Fatah faction.
“The differences on the core issues have remained … In the light of tonight’s talks it does not seem as if we are closer to an agreement,” senior Abbas aide Yasser Abed Rabbo said.
But–but why?
The key obstacles to the formation of a unity government have been Hamas’ refusal to participate in any administration that recognizes Israel and to renounce armed struggle against the Jewish state.
Oh. Right. That little thing that was supposed to go away as Hamas moderated. Say, how’s that working out guys? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?
According to Abed Rabbo, the talks failed because Hamas continued to refuse to recognize Israel and to accept previously signed agreements with it. “We will continue the dialogue over these points but no agenda for a unity government can succeed unless these points are resolved,” he said.
Uh-huh.