Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud ‘Abbas has accused Gaza’s Hamas rulers of allying with Al-Qa’ida, which has reportedly infiltrated the coastal strip with the help of the Islamic group.
In a press conference followed his meeting with Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak in Cairo yesterday, ‘Abbas added that Hamas had helped Al-Qa’ida establish a base in Gaza.
“Thanks to the support of Hamas, Al-Qa’ida is in Gaza now and I believe they are cooperating with each other," he said.
Hamas, meanwhile, denied such accusations as “baseless.” The group’s spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri told The Media Line that ‘Abbas was trying to whip up sentiment against Hamas, which routed his forces in Gaza last June.
‘Abbas also denied news of having contacts with the group’s Damascus-based leader, Khalid Mash’al, reiterating he would only engage in dialogue with Hamas if it handed over Gaza to the legitimate Palestinian leadership.
Al-Qa’ida’s presence in the Palestinian territories has been a subject of intense speculation after the group’s second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahri’s call a few months ago to support the Hamas regime.
In other developments, the sacked Hamas government threatened yesterday it would take over the West Bank as it had done in Gaza.
The communiqué that was issued at the end of the meeting called on all pro-Fatah security personnel to disobey the orders of their leaders or else risk punishment by Hamas.
The threat came due to what Hamas called the continual arrests and torture of its operatives in the West Bank, which led to the killing of Majd Bargouthi, a 45-year-old Hamas member last week.