Hamas prisoners retract support of prisoners' plan

[eyl]

The Hamas prisoner who helped draft a proposal that would implicitly recognize Israel withdrew his name from the document Sunday on behalf of all Hamas prisoners, deepening Palestinian divisions ahead of a referendum on the plan.

A top Islamic Jihad prisoner who helped author the proposal withdrew his name from the document as well. Spokesmen from the groups said the two retracted their support to protest a referendum on the document called by Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.

In a statement issued in the Gaza Strip, Abdel Khaleq Natche, the top Hamas prisoner held by Israel said he was no longer a party to the document.

He accused Abbas of "unacceptable abuse" of the document and exploiting it for political gain. He also said it falsely implied there were divisions between Hamas prisoners, politicians in Gaza, and political leaders living in exile.

"The document now is completely a Fatah document," said Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri, who read the statement on behalf of Natche and Bassem al-Saadi, the Islamic Jihad prisoner who also withdrew his name.

Haaretz

[pelsar]

1. there goes the referendum....

its now a issue of fatah vs hamas......and they're buying more guns then butter these days.....

[BayCityProgressive]

2. well

did anyone actually think they would allow this referendum to be successful?