WEST BANK/ GAZA: Palestinian Factions Sign Reconciliation Deal
Palestinian factions have signed a reconciliation deal that will pave the way for elections within a year.
Representatives of factions including Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah party and its rival Hamas inked the deal following talks with Egyptian officials in Cairo on Tuesday.
"We signed the deal despite several reservations. But we insisted on working for the higher national interest," said Walid al-Awad, a politburo member of the leftist Palestine People's Party.
[...] "Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank will be celebrating this agreement... We must now work to implement what was agreed in the deal."
Al Jazeera's Nicole Johnston, reporting from Gaza, said 13 Palestinian factions were involved in the signing of the deal, including members of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) - the representative body for the Palestinian people. Al Jazeera (3 May 2011)