BICOM

Fatah and Hamas representatives yesterday agreed to release political prisoners held by both parties. The Ma’an Palestinian news agency reported that meetings between the two Palestinian factions took place in Cairo and were an attempt to restart unity talks following disagreements by both sides to reach a reconciliation government. The representatives, led by Azza Al Ahmad from Fatah and Mousa Abu Marzouk from Hamas, also agreed to create a passport issuing committee and also formed a task force to monitor groups that were shut down in both Gaza and the West Bank due to political fallout between the two groups. Al Ahmad said yesterday that another meeting between the two factions was planned for the beginning of September to discuss key issues of security and governance of the Palestinian people.

The two factions have clashed over an agreement of a unity government, whose task would be to prepare for a national election in 2012. One of the reasons for the disagreement evolves around the position of prime minister. Fatah nominated Salam Fayyad, the current premier of the West Bank-based caretaker government, but Hamas rejected this.