Some 300 demonstrators blocked a Palestinian delegation heading to Geneva for the signing of an unofficial peace accord from leaving the Gaza Strip Sunday, witnesses said.
A scuffle erupted at the Rafah crossing point between the southern Gaza Strip and Egypt when a small delegation of officials due to attend Monday’s ceremony in Geneva arrived, the witnesses said, according to AFP.
The protestors gathered at the crossing included members from the National and Islamic Forces, an umbrella group representing all Palestinian factions, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, as well as the mainstream Fatah party. The demonstrators accused the Palestinian officials of betrayal.
The Geneva understandings were drafted by Israeli left-wingers and Palestinian political and intellectual figures.
On Saturday, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades -- the armed wing of Fatah -- denounced the agreement. On Sunday, the armed wing of Hamas reiterated its rejection of the Geneva plan, which has also been rejected by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s government.
Meanwhile, Fatah officials involved in drafting the Geneva
Accords announced Sunday that they would not attend Monday's launch ceremony in Switzerland unless the Movement officially adopts it.
The decision to pull out of the ceremony - along with the protest in the Gaza Strip - raised doubts about the Palestinian public's support for the document. Among those who have pulled out are Qadoura Fares, a Palestinian Cabinet minister, and Mohammed Horani.
Palestinian officials involved in the negotiations said that Fares and Horani continue to support the accords but do not want to participate in the signing ceremony due to strong opposition in Fatah. (Albawaba.com)
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
