Saudis ask Palestinians to revive Mecca agreement
CAIRO, June 15 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia, which brokered a unity government deal between Fatah and Hamas in February, on Friday, reproached both sides for breaking their commitments and pressed them to return to the agreement.
In a speech to an Arab League meeting in Cairo, Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal said the latest fighting between Fatah and Hamas had served the interests of Israel.
"Today the Palestinians have come close to putting by themselves the last nail in the coffin of the Palestinian cause," he told other Arab foreign ministers in closed session. The Saudi delegation made his speech available.
"The Palestinian leaderships must now issue an order, not just to stop the fighting immediately but also to outlaw fighting, and to return to dialogue," he added.
The Saudi speech did not take sides in the conflict, which passed a crucial stage on Thursday when Hamas forces took control of the Gaza Strip, raising the prospect of a political divide between Gaza and the West Bank.
Diplomats say Saudi Arabia has tended to favour the Fatah movement of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas but not to the same extent as the governments of Egypt and Jordan.
Prince Saud added: "It would be best for our Palestinian brothers to return to their commitment to the Mecca agreement (in February) and work to carry it out."
The Mecca agreement set the framework for the national unity government which Abbas dismissed on Thursday. The prime minister was Ismail Haniyah of Hamas, who says he will keep on working.
The Arab ministers are holding a single-session emergency meeting on the crisis between Hamas and Fatah, and will also discuss the turmoil in Lebanon.
The heads of the Egyptian, Jordanian and Lebanese delegations held a preparatory meeting in Cairo and Egyptian spokesman Alaa el-Hadidi said they agreed that legitimate and constitutional institutions must be respected.
"They agreed ... on the need to condemn any act outside the framework of legitimacy or which works against it (legitimacy) in the service of private or regional interests," added Hadidi, quoted by the Egyptian state news agency MENA.
Egypt and other conservative governments have said repeatedly they see Abbas as representative of Palestinian legitimacy. Hamas's success is a blow to their diplomacy.
Fatah led the Palestinian delegation to the meeting in Cairo and asked Arab governments to make demands of its rivals in Hamas, Arab diplomatic sources said. Hamas is not taking part because Abbas has the right to name the delegation.
