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Palestinian Factions Arrive in Algeria for ‘National Dialogue’

From left to right, Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, Algerian President Abdelmajid Tebboune and the Hamas movement leader Ismail Haniyeh meet in Algeria in July. (AFP)
From left to right, Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, Algerian President Abdelmajid Tebboune and the Hamas movement leader Ismail Haniyeh meet in Algeria in July. (AFP)
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Palestinian Factions Arrive in Algeria for ‘National Dialogue’

From left to right, Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, Algerian President Abdelmajid Tebboune and the Hamas movement leader Ismail Haniyeh meet in Algeria in July. (AFP)
From left to right, Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, Algerian President Abdelmajid Tebboune and the Hamas movement leader Ismail Haniyeh meet in Algeria in July. (AFP)

Delegations from Palestinian factions began arriving to Algeria on Saturday to participate in the internal Palestinian dialogue hosted by the North African country.

Algeria has taken it upon itself to host dialogue between Palestinians ahead of the Arab League summit that it will host early next month.

The National Conference for the Comprehensive Palestinian Dialogue is expected to be held in Algiers from October 10 to 12.

Thirteen Palestinian factions will attempt the rounds of dialogue, including the Hamas and Fatah movements.

Fatah said its delegation to Algeria will be headed by Azzam al-Ahmad, the official in charge of the reconciliation file, accompanied by a number of other members of the Central Committee.

Munther al-Hayek, spokesman for the movement in the Gaza Strip, said the Fatah delegation will go with a full mandate from the Palestinian leadership to end the division and unify the institutions of the Palestinian Authority and to provide all that is necessary for the success of the Algerian efforts for reconciliation.

For its part, Hamas said its leader Ismail Haniyeh will head the movement’s delegation to the national dialogue. He will be accompanied by Khalil al-Haya, Hossam Badran and Maher Salah, all members of the politburo.

Badran, head of Hamas’ National Relations Office, stressed Hamas’ readiness to work with full force and with the highest levels of national responsibility for the success of the Algerian efforts in achieving national unity.

Algerian President Abdel Madjid Tebboune said in August that his country was keen on the Palestinian reconciliation because a Palestinian state cannot be established without it.

Algiers believes that the unification of Palestinians is part of a broader plan to support them at the Arab and international levels and launch a new peace process.

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Cyprus Can Help Rid Syria of Chemical Weapons, Search for its Missing, Says Top Diplomat

FILE PHOTO: A UN chemical weapons expert, wearing a gas mask, holds a plastic bag containing samples from one of the sites of an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Ain Tarma neighborhood of Damascus August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Abdullah
FILE PHOTO: A UN chemical weapons expert, wearing a gas mask, holds a plastic bag containing samples from one of the sites of an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Ain Tarma neighborhood of Damascus August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Abdullah
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Cyprus Can Help Rid Syria of Chemical Weapons, Search for its Missing, Says Top Diplomat

FILE PHOTO: A UN chemical weapons expert, wearing a gas mask, holds a plastic bag containing samples from one of the sites of an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Ain Tarma neighborhood of Damascus August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Abdullah
FILE PHOTO: A UN chemical weapons expert, wearing a gas mask, holds a plastic bag containing samples from one of the sites of an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Ain Tarma neighborhood of Damascus August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Abdullah

Cyprus stands ready to help eliminate Syria’s remaining chemical weapons stockpiles and to support a search for people whose fate remains unknown after more than a decade of war, the top Cypriot diplomat said Saturday.

Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos said Cyprus’ offer is grounded on its own past experience both with helping rid Syria of chemical weapons 11 years ago and its own ongoing, decades-old search for hundreds of people who disappeared amid fighting between Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriots in the 1960s and a 1974 Turkish invasion, The AP reported.

Cyprus in 2013 hosted the support base of a mission jointly run by the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to remove and dispose of Syria's chemical weapons.

“As a neighboring country located just 65 miles from Syria, Cyprus has a vested interest in Syria’s future. Developments there will directly impact Cyprus, particularly in terms of potential new migratory flows and the risks of terrorism and extremism,” Kombos told The AP in written replies to questions.

Kombos said there are “profound concerns” among his counterparts across the region over Syria’s future security, especially regarding a possible resurgence of extremist groups like ISIS in a fragmented and polarized society.

“This is particularly critical in light of potential social and demographic engineering disguised as “security” arrangements, which could further destabilize the country,” Kombos said.

The diplomat also pointed to the recent proliferation of narcotics production like the stimulant Captagon that is interconnected with smuggling networks involved in people and arms trafficking.

Kombos said ongoing attacks against Syria’s Kurds must stop immediately, given the role that Kurdish forces have played in combating extremist forces like the ISIS group in the past decade.

Saleh Muslim, a member of the Kurdish Presidential Council, said in an interview that the Kurds primarily seek “equality” enshrined in rights accorded to all in any democracy.

He said a future form of governance could accord autonomy to the Kurds under some kind of federal structure.

“But the important thing is to have democratic rights for all the Syrians and including the Kurdish people,” he said.

Muslim warned that the Kurdish-majority city of Kobani, near Syria’s border with Türkiye, is in “very big danger” of falling into the hands of Turkish-backed forces, and accused Türkiye of trying to occupy it.

Kombos said the international community needs to ensure that the influence Türkiye is trying to exert in Syria is “not going to create an even worse situation than there already is.”

“Whatever the future landscape in Syria, it will have a direct and far-reaching impact on the region, the European Union and the broader international community,” Kombos said.