Fatah/Hamas

      Top aides to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday distanced themselves from a Yemeni plan outlining a path to reconciliation with Hamas movement, and one said an Abbas envoy only signed the document because of a mixup.The most significant part of the Sanaa declaration may be the fact that top officials from Fatah and Hamas were standing in the same room at the same time in order to sign it. The two factions have not met face-to-face since Hamas took over the Gaza Strip in June, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas dissolved the unity government that had been forged at earlier peace talks in the Muslim holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia. Mr. Abbas's Fatah faction has said it would not hold direct talks with Hamas until the militant group relinquished control of the Gaza Strip, media reported. Under the Yemeni proposal, signed Sunday, Abbas's Fatah movement and Hamas would agree in principle to unite in a single Palestinian government. However, in several days of talks in Yemen, the bitter rivals failed to resolve the crucial question of how they should share power. Abbas has said repeatedly that he would not negotiate a new power-sharing deal with Hamas unless it first steps aside in Gaza. Despite Hamas' refusal to do so, Abbas sent a representative, former Deputy Palestinian Prime Minister Azzam al-Ahmed, to Yemen to explore the reconciliation proposal - apparently to avoid being seen as inflexible on trying to mend the deep internal Palestinian rift. On Sunday, al-Ahmed and a senior Hamas representative, Moussa Abu Marzouk, signed a declaration that both accept a Yemeni initiative calling for the creation of a national unity government and the rebuilding of security forces loyal to that government instead of factions. A senior Abbas confidant, chief Palestinian negotiator Ahmed Qurei, said Monday that al-Ahmed signed because of a mixup. Al-Ahmed called Abbas' office repeatedly to get guidance, but Abbas was meeting at the time with US Vice President Dick Cheney, and al-Ahmed went ahead and signed, Qureia said. "There was a misunderstanding," Qurei told reporters Monday. "President Abbas was busy hosting Cheney, and Azzam tried many times to contact him (Abbas), but couldn't reach him. The talks were at the end, and time was pressing." Other senior Abbas aides said al-Ahmed should not have signed the agreement. "Hamas is trying to lead us to endless talks without backing away from its military coup," aide Yasser Abed Rabbo told the Voice of Palestine radio. "Hamas is giving no signs of doing so. On the contrary, it gives more signs of repression and taking over more Palestinian Authority institutions in Gaza." (23,24)