Arafat wants to bring terror groups into fold

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat is prepared to include the militant Hamas group in a new leadership organisation that would function alongside the Palestinian Authority, it was reported today.

The Al Ayyam newspaper, which is close to Arafat’s Fatah faction, said Arafat is willing to include Hamas and Islamic Jihad, another terror organisation, in a unified leadership group, though it did not specify what the group’s function would be.

In the past, Palestinian Authority officials have said they would be willing to cooperate with Hamas if it recognised the authority’s leadership. Hamas has so far not responded to the proposals.

Al Ayyam quoted Fatah Central Committee member Hani al-Hassan as saying the new leadership group could easily coexist alongside the existing leadership structure.

“Forming a unified Palestinian leadership does not contradict the Palestinian Authority as it is an internal Palestinian factional issue,” it quoted him as saying.

Arafat’s critics have accused him of being an autocratic leader, unwilling to share power with his prime minister and refusing to groom a successor.

Over the past several days, the Palestinian Authority has been holding meetings with militant groups on how to run the Gaza Strip after a possible Israeli withdrawal.