Erekat and Meshaal to meet in Qatar to discuss PNC meeting

The secretary of the PLO’s Executive Committee, Saeb Erekat is to meet the head of Hamas’ Political Burea, Khaled Meshaal in the Qatari capital of Doha, a senior Palestinian official has revealed.

The official, who preferred not to be named, told Gulf Online news site in Gaza that “Erekat arrived on Wednesday in the Qatari capital, Doha to meet with Hamas leaders including Meshaal to discuss internal and external important files.”

According to the official, the meeting between Erekat and Meshaal will take place on Thursday evening.”

“The two officials are scheduled to discuss the National Council meeting to take place on September 14 and 15 and the necessity of Hamas’ participation as well as the reconciliation and ceasefire in Gaza Strip,” he said.

The same official said that: “Erekat will try to convince Meshaal to allow the 100 members of the National Council to leave Gaza Strip to participate in the council’s next meeting and not to disrupt their departure.”

“If Hamas refuses to allow the National Council members to leave Gaza, it will disrupt the meeting and weaken the participation,” he added.

More than 100 National Council members live in the Gaza Strip, including heads of parties, independent political figures and union representatives.

Hamas has renewed its call for Palestinian factions and members of the National Council to boycott the council’s meeting in protest against what it described as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s absurd policies, saying “the council’s meeting is a coup against the national agreement”.

The Palestinian National Council (PNC) is the legislative body of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and elects its Executive Committee (PLO EC), which assumes leadership of the organisation between its sessions.

The PNC is the highest authority in the PLO and is responsible for formulating its policies and programmes.