Palestinian gov't platform vows Islamic tolerance
JERUSALEM, July 29 (Reuters) A new Palestinian government platform drawn up by Prime Minister Salam Fayyad pledges, in an indirect swipe at the Islamist group Hamas, to prevent the use of violence in the name of Islam.
An official English-language translation, released today, of the policy document said that Fayyad's administration would build a clear-cut strategy to ''enhance the status of Islam as a religion of tolerance''.
At the same time, the platform said, the government would prevent ''the use of Islam to justify killings, exclusion of others and destruction''.
The phrasing was clearly aimed at the Hamas Islamists who took control of Gaza last month in fighting with President Mahmoud Abbas's secular Fatah faction.
The group has accused Abbas, based in the West Bank where Fatah holds sway, of carrying out a coup by setting up the new government without Hamas, which won an election 18 months ago.
Palestinian officials on Friday confirmed that the new platform omits the phrase ''armed struggle'' and ''resistance'' against Israeli occupation.
Hamas has rebuffed international demands to recognise Israel and renounce violence, but a spokeswoman for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has welcomed the new language.
Fayyad, a US-educated economist who enjoys international respect for fighting corruption and implementing reforms, presented the platform to Abbas on Thursday.
The revision of terminology that had appeared in the platforms of the previous two Hamas-led governments coincides with a flurry of diplomatic activity aimed at resuming long-stalled Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking.
Since dismissing the Hamas government after its violent takeover of Gaza on June 14, Abbas has called for peaceful resistance to occupation and has strongly condemned the firing of rockets into Israel.
In
the
platform,
Fayyad
reiterated
that
his
government
would
''fully
abide
by
bilateral
and
multilateral
agreements
signed
by
the
PLO
(Palestine
Liberation
Organisation)
as
the
sole
legitimate
representative
of
the
Palestinian
people,
and
the
Palestinian
National
Authority,
including
those
signed
with
Israel.''
REUTERS
SM
RN1912