Cairo inter Palestinian dialogue meeting postponed

The leading figure in the Islamic Jihad Movement Muhammad al-Hindi said that the inter-Palestinian dialogue which was due today in Cairo was postponed until next Thursday, giving no mention to reasons for the postponement.

Al-Hindi did not rule out that during the dialogue, the participation of the two movements, Hamas and the Islamic Jihad, will be discussed in the framework of the PLO, stressing that there will be no free concessions for the truce with Israel or other issues.

However, several representatives for the Palestinian groups arrived in Cairo to take part in the dialogue, while the Israeli occupation forces prevented certain members of these groups from leaving the Palestinian territories for participation.

The Hamas delegation will be lead by Mousa Abu Marzouk, the deputy chairman of the movement's political bureau, while it was not attended by any of the leaderships from inside Palestine, because the Palestinian authorities refused to give them consent and did not guarantee their reentry again to the Palestinian territories.

To this effect, the Palestinian foreign minister Nabil Shaath expressed his hope that Cairo's dialogue will be conducive to a truce that would allow the Palestinian authority to negotiate a ceasefire with Israel.

During a press conference held at the headquarters of the UN in Beirut, Shaath said that "all Palestinian organizations and the Palestinian authority will be in Cairo under the auspices of Egypt in order to reach an agreement, and Egypt hopes this will take place in a very short time."