Jeddah, August 06: Saudi Arabian King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz has told Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas that the split within the Palestinians’ ranks is more damaging to their cause of an independent state than Israel.
In a letter to Abbas marking his Fatah party’s first congress in 20 years, the Saudi king stressed that all Palestinian factions need to come together to make an independent Palestinian state possible.
“The arrogant and criminal enemy was not able, during years of continued aggression, to hurt the Palestinian cause as much as the Palestinians hurt their cause themselves in the past few months,” King Abdullah said in the letter released through the official SPA news agency.
“I can honestly tell you, brothers, that even if the whole world joins to found a Palestinian independent state, and if we have full support for that, this state would not be established as long as the Palestinians are divided.
“This letter from the holy land does not represent my sentiments alone but the sentiments of one thousand million Arabs and Muslims who see their greatest issue is the Palestinian issue.”
Elections
Meanwhile, arguments over elections and money have erupted between Abbas and Fatah activists at
its congress.
The congress is meant to elect new leaders, clean up Fatah’s image and make it more competitive with rival Hamas. However, delegates complained on Wednesday that Fatah’s old guard is trying to manipulate the elections, and a dispute erupted over Gaza.
-Agencies