Jordanian king welcomes Palestinian reconciliation deal

By Laith al-Juneidi

AMMAN (AA) - Jordanian King Abdullah II on Friday congratulated Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on a landmark reconciliation agreement signed this week in Cairo between Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas.

The king extended his congratulations in a telephone call between the two leaders, Jordan’s Royal Court said in a Friday statement.

During their phone conversation, Abbas, who also serves as Fatah chairman, voiced his appreciation for Jordan’s ongoing support for the Palestinian people and national cause, according to the same statement.

On Thursday, Hamas and Fatah signed a landmark reconciliation deal in Cairo aimed at ending ten years of crippling inter-Palestinian political division.

Under the terms of the deal, the Ramallah-based Palestinian unity government will assume political and administrative responsibility for the Gaza Strip no later than Dec. 1.

The West Bank and the Gaza Strip have remained politically divided since 2007, when Hamas wrested control of the strip from Fatah following several days of bloody street fighting.

Hamas’s capture of Gaza in 2007 ended an earlier -- if short-lived -- unity government established after Hamas swept 2006 Palestinian legislative polls.