Sources said Erekat resigned because Abbas intends to break the resistance infrastructure to get Sharon to accept roadmap

Additional Reporting By Abdul Raheem Ali, IOL Staff

CAIRO, May 17 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – The dismantling of the infrastructure of Palestinian resistance movements, chief among which Hamas, will be the core of the meeting between Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas and his Israeli counterpart Ariel Sharon on Saturday, May 17, well-informed Palestinian sources told IslamOnline.net.

The sources, in exclusive statements to IOL over the phone, said the main reason behind the resignation of Palestinian minister of negotiations Saeb Erekat was “Abbas’ determination to break the infrastructure of resistance movements in return for Shron’s preliminary acceptance of the roadmap.”

The internationally-backed roadmap Mideast peace plan provides for the establishment of a Palestinian state by 2005.

The sources said Abbas tackled “the bargain” in a behind-the-scene meeting held few days ago and was attended by few Palestinian ministers, including Erekat.

They stressed that Erekat tendered his resignation after failing to convince Abbas to backtrack on his decision.

The sources added that Erekat asked that the agenda of the envisaged meeting no to be limited to security issues, but extend to cover concrete steps needed to implement the roadmap and resume negotiations.

Abbas, they said, spoke of the need to make some concessions on the Palestinian refugees’ right of return, which irritated Erekat, who walked out of the closed-door meeting and resigned.

‘Ceasefire’

Meanwhile, a senior Israeli official said Friday, May 16, that some within Hamas movement favor the policy pursued by Abbas for a ceasefire with Israel, but only to regroup their battered force.

“Those who support the ceasefire support it for one reason: they know that they have a problem in the West Bank ... So they need some months in order to recover,” the official told Agence France-Presse (AFP), requesting not to be identified.

“That's the main reason why Hamas in the Gaza Strip, some of them, are ready to pay with a ceasefire in order to recover and improve their abilities in the West Bank,” he claimed.

The Israeli official alleged this was the reason why Israel rejected the notion of a ceasefire with the Palestinians.

"That's a move that, from our point of view, won't work," he said.

“Hamas understands that the Palestinian Authority apparatuses do not want, are not allowed ... to go into a tough conflict with Hamas,” he claimed.

He expected that Hamas would never disarm and hand over its weapons.

No Ceasefire

But Hamas representative in Lebanon, Osama Hamdan, stressed Hamas would never lay down arms.

Addressing thousands of Palestinian refugees in Al-Bas refugee camp in southern Lebanon, Hamdan said anyone who “bargains over the right of return is bargaining his head.”

He said thousands of Palestinians paid the ultimate sacrifice to achieve national unity, noting that “our message to those being incited by the Israeli enemy to trigger a civil strife is abundantly clear: the resistance will go non-stop, and Allah will curse those who start sparking such strife.”

Commemorating the 55^th anniversary of Nakba (the loss of Palestine and creation of Israel) on Thursday, May 15, Palestinians vowed continued resistance against the Israeli occupation forces and reiterated commitment to the right of return.

With nostalgia for the Palestinian territories usurped by Jewish gangsters in 1948, the Palestinians exhorted the United Nations and world community to bring to an end the suffering of millions of Palestinian refugees worldwide.