RAMALLAH, July 9, 2012 (WAFA) – The main front page story of the Monday issue of the three Palestinian Arabic dailies focused on a decision by Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi to recall the parliament for a session defying, or cancelling, an earlier decision by the military council disbanding it.
The papers also gave prominence to statements President Mahmoud Abbas made after meeting European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso Sunday night in Ramallah in which he said that Hamas decision to suspend the work of the Central Elections Commission in Gaza put obstacles in the way of reconciliation.
Barroso, who met Abbas in the evening, earlier met Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and travelled to Bethlehem and Jericho where he signed with Fayyad a 20 million euro package to support rule of law in the Palestinian territories, according to the dailies, which reported on Barroso’s visit and talks with Palestinian officials.
The papers also focused on Fayyad’s statements during a press conference with Barroso in which he said the Palestinian Authority was facing a severe financial crisis that could even get worse if the donor countries do not resume full aid soon.
The papers printed on their front page a story by the French news agency AFP, which said that Abbas gave permission to Swiss experts to take samples from the remains of the late President Yasser Arafat to complete their tests on the reasons for his sudden illness and death.
The experts carried out tests on Arafat’s clothes and found out traces of a poisonous radioactive material which could explain his mysterious illness and subsequent death.
The AFP story quoted chief negotiator Saeb Erekat as saying that Abbas instructed his medical advisors to contact the Swiss experts and invite them to come to Ramallah and take samples from Arafat’s remains.
Abbas was also on the front page of the dailies in another story which focused on his acceptance of an Iranian invitation to attend the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) conference that will be held in Tehran at the end of August.
Al-Ayyam quoted Foreign Minister Riyad Malki as saying that a meeting for the foreign ministers of Islamic countries will be held in Ramallah at the end of this month. The meeting will be for the foreign ministers in the Palestine Committee of the Non-Aligned Movement.
The meeting is supposed to come up with a declaration to get adopted at the NAM conference planned in Tehran at the end of August.
Abbas was also mentioned in a report about Hamas’ Gaza leader Ismail Haniyeh visiting Egypt and meeting Morsi. Al-Quds quoted an unnamed diplomatic official saying that Morsi will not receive Haniyeh before meeting Abbas. He said that Egypt has not yet invited any Palestinian official to visit Cairo to meet Morsi.
However, the paper printed on the same spot another story from Gaza by the German news agency dpa quoting Haniyeh telling journalists that preparations are underway for a meeting between him and Morsi even though no date has been yet set for the visit.
Al-Ayyam quoted Egypt’s ambassador to Ramallah Yasser Othman as saying that he cannot confirm any meeting for Morsi with any Palestinian official since the presidential office is the only party that announces Morsi’s schedule and anything beyond that remains unconfirmed.
The elections in Libya and the situation in Syria got some coverage on the front page of the Palestinian dailies.
Al-Ayyam’s page before last of the first section included full page pictures of the Chinese dance group My Dream, which concluded the events of the Palestine International Festival with a dance performance at the Ramallah Cultural Palace.
M.S.
