Palestinian groups agree to establish elections court

By Qais Abu Samra

RAMALLAH, Palestine (AA) - Palestinian factions agreed Tuesday in Cairo to establish an elections court based on a national consensus among judges from Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza.

"The court shall be exclusively responsible, not any other judicial body, to follow what is related to the electoral process, its results and the stuck cases," said the final joint statement of the Palestinian National Dialogue.

The Palestinian groups agreed that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas would issue a presidential decree to form the court.

The final statement confirmed that Palestinian police will be solely responsible for securing the electoral process, including guarding polling sites.

The groups convened Monday in the Egyptian capital Cairo to discuss issues related to holding general elections based on Abbas's decree in January to hold legislative polls on May 22 and presidential polls on July 31 for the first time in 15 years.

Hamas and Abbas’s Fatah party have been at odds since Hamas seized the Gaza Strip from its rival in 2007.

*Ahmed Asmar contributed to this report from Ankara