Hamas is willing to accept Fatah's request to meet somewhere other than Damascus to discuss reconciliation, Hamas leader Salah Al-Bardawil said Wednesday.
Fatah canceled the scheduled meeting in Damascus after a perceived humiliation during an Arab League summit in Sirtre, Libya, when the Syrian president urged President Mahmoud Abbas to stop preventing attacks on Israel from the West Bank.
Al-Bardawil said Hamas initially rejected Fatah's request to change the location for the next meeting, at which parties were set to discuss security, the final point of contention on an Egyptian-backed unity deal. "But we managed to reach a deal to meet somewhere other than Damascus," he said.
Fatah leader Azzam Al-Ahmad's recent statements about reconciliation were positive, Al-Bardawil said, adding that "Regardless of the contradictions in Fatah statements, all that concerns us in Hamas is that Fatah should have a genuine will and a desire to end the division."
Al-Ahmad said Saturday that the cancellation of the Damascus meeting had nothing to do with Hamas, and was not a sign that unity talks were collapsing. Further, he said the next meeting would be "decisive and final" in securing reconciliation between the rival factions.
Al-Bardawil said he hoped the Fatah official's comments signaled that the meeting would be held with responsibility and transparency. Further, the Hamas official said he hoped Fatah would implement its statements to end security cooperation with Israel and to stop detaining Hamas affiliates in the West Bank.
Hamas said Wednesday that PA forces detained seven party supporters across the West Bank overnight, in what it described as an ongoing political arrest campaign.