Abbas sets conditions for dialogue with Hamas
February 2, 2009 by SAF Desk
Filed under News at a glance
By Alaa Shahine
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CAIRO (Reuters) – Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday ruled out dialogue with Hamas unless it recognizes the supremacy of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), deepening the split between the two main Palestinian groups.
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He was responding to a proposal by the Islamist movement Hamas for the Palestinians to replace the PLO, which is dominated by Abbas and the factions loyal to him.
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“Now we say … no dialogue with those who reject the Palestine Liberation Organization,” Abbas said in a speech at a Palestinian hospital in the Egyptian capital Cairo.
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“They must admit without equivocation or ambiguity that the organization is the sole and only representative of the Palestinian people. Then there will be dialogue,” he added.