Palestinian factions near agreement on manifesto

GAZA - Palestinian factions neared a deal on Tuesday on a political platform that might avoid a referendum showdown between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and the Hamas-led government, officials said.

Tensions have escalated between Abbas' Fatah movement and Hamas since the president called a referendum for July 26 on a platform for statehood that implicitly recognises Israel. Some fear their violent power struggle could lead to civil war.

But after four hours of talks early on Tuesday in Gaza, spokesmen for both Hamas and Fatah were optimistic an agreement was within reach on a manifesto drawn up by Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

"An agreement has become a done deal. There is no big difference over the remaining points," Hamas spokesman Sami Abu-Zuhri said.

Maher Meqdad, a spokesman for Fatah in the Gaza Strip, said: "We are at the door of an agreement ... we have overcome the difficult part."

Officials said a deal may be signed by the end of the week, but that disagreements remained over who would head a unity government of Hamas, Fatah and other factions. Hamas has agreed to but insists on heading a joint cabinet. Fatah wants a non-partisan panel.

Another point of dispute is over peace talks with Israel as envisaged by the prisoners' document.

Hamas, an Islamic militant group sworn to destroy Israel, brands the referendum an attempt to overthrow its three-month-old government.

The moderate Abbas has said the vote would be cancelled if the rivals agreed on the document. A deal on the platform could also lead to a unity government.

Officials had made last-ditch efforts to reach a deal on the document after Hamas said it would lodge a motion in parliament this week seeking to have the referendum declared illegal.

Some in Fatah see the referendum as a way to oust the government and reverse a Western aid embargo that has brought the Palestinian Authority to the brink of collapse.

The West imposed sanctions after Hamas refused to recognise Israel, renounce violence and accept past peace accords.

Fatah wants a Palestinian state on land that Israel occupied in 1967. Hamas, which beat Fatah in a January election, wants an Islamic state on all of what is now Israel, as well as the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

- REUTERS