MIDDLE EAST: The showdown between Mahmoud Abbas and the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority government was temporarily delayed when the Palestinian president announced yesterday that he was extending by 48 hours a deadline he issued to the Islamic movement to accept a plan that implicitly recognises Israel.
After consulting with the PLO executive committee, Mr Abbas decided to extend the deadline, which expired yesterday. The Palestinian leader has told Hamas that if it does not agree to a plan that calls on Israel to relinquish all of the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem - areas it captured in 1967 - in exchange for a peace agreement, he will call a referendum on the blueprint within 40 days.
Mr Abbas, who has been at loggerheads with Hamas ever since it swept parliamentary elections in January, is trying to force the Islamic movement to soften its anti-Israel positions and wants the plan to serve as the basis for renewing peace talks with Israel. Hamas, which refuses to recognise the Jewish state, has demanded that the proposal be altered and has said it will boycott any poll.
"We will call for a boycott of the referendum, for people not to go to the polling stations," said Sheikh Naef Rajoub, a Hamas minister.
Yasser Abed Rabbo, a spokesman for Mr Abbas, however, said the Palestinian president was "going to prepare for the referendum . . . and he will announce this at a press conference before the weekend. We are giving enough time, about three days, for our brothers in Hamas to reconsider their position."
Even if Mr Abbas does make good on his ultimatum, Fatah-Hamas talks on the plan are likely to continue in the 40 days leading up to the referendum. According to Mr Abed Rabbo, they could continue up to the actual day of the vote.
The Palestinian president is banking on broad popular support for the plan, which was drawn up by Fatah and Hamas prisoners in Israeli jails. Palestinian prisoners hold considerable sway in their society, where they are viewed as being the vanguard in the struggle for independence.
An opinion poll published yesterday seemed to support Mr Abbas's assessment: 77 per cent of Palestinians said they back a referendum on what has become known as the "prisoners' document" and a similar number said they support the document itself. The survey, conducted by Bir Zeit University in the West Bank, also showed a sharp decline in support for Hamas - from 50 per cent in April to 37 per cent.
The showdown between Hamas and Fatah has become increasingly violent in recent weeks, with six people killed in clashes since Sunday.