The signing of the reconciliation deal between Hamas and Fatah has reportedly been delayed due to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' insistence that he be the sole speaker at the signing event. This move allegedly implies his expectence to be the head of the interim unity government, which would allow him to control Palestinian foreign policy.
Fatah's foreign policy includes negotiating toward a peace agreement with Israel, something which Hamas condemns.
A Palestinian journalist reporting form the event told the Nazareth-based A-Shams radio that Hamas' exiled political leader Khaled Mashaal was supposed to speak directly after Abbas upon the signing of the unity deal. The two sides are currently meeting with Egyptian mediators, who are trying to help them come to an agreement so that the event can resume as plans.
The leaders of the Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas arrived in Cairo on Wednesday to sign a reconciliation agreement to end four years of bitter in fighting sparked by Hamas' bloody takeover of the Gaza Strip in June 2007.
Fatah leader Abbas and Hamas' Meshal were to sign the agreement in the presence of representatives of Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, Egypt's governing body since the January revolution in that country. Egypt is considered the patron of the reconciliation process and the agreement.
Another Palestinian source blamed the delay on seating protocol, saying "There is a dispute in the protocol over the seating of leaders."
"The difference is about where Meshaal will sit, whether he should be on the stage or among leaders of factions."
Officials from all the Palestinian factions had earlier signed the deal that Meshaal and Abbas were expected to endorse at the ceremony.
"The signing has been done, everyone signed. Today is the crowning of this achievement," said senior Fatah official Nabil Shaath, speaking shortly before the ceremony.