BICOM

Relations between Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad are reported to be very strained, following Fayyad’s refusal to attend a meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu last week. Fayyad was supposed to deliver a letter on Abbas’s behalf, which reiterated Palestinian preconditions for entering negotiations. According to the London based Arabic daily, Al-Quds Al-Arabi, officials close to Abbas believe that Fayyad exceeded his authority by backing out of the meeting and that he ‘crossed a red line’. Fayyad apparently pulled out of the meeting with Netanyahu believing the initiative to be flawed, and that he would be personally tainted by associating himself with it.

The Palestinian press is talking of a ‘silent crisis’ between the two, with Abbas refusing to take Fayyad’s phone calls in recent days. Fayyad’s request to meet the president to discuss a possible future cabinet reshuffle has apparently not been answered.

In related news, Fatah Foreign Affairs Commissioner Nabil Shaath has confirmed that Egypt is continuing its efforts to arrange a meeting between Abbas and Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal to advance reconciliation efforts. According to Shaath, Egyptian officials are talking to leaders from Fatah and Hamas.