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Exiled Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal has agreed to transfer control of the Gaza Strip to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, London-based newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat reported Dec. 11, citing a senior Hamas member in Gaza. Meshaal, Hamas’ politburo chief based in Damascus, is currently in Riyadh at the Saudi government’s invitation.
This decision is the result of Syrian and Saudi mediation in the intra-Palestinian dispute. Stratfor received word one week ago that the deal Syria and the United States struck at the Annapolis conference involved Damascus reining in Meshaal in return for getting its candidate of choice in the president’s seat in Lebanon. Concerned by Saudi and Syrian participation in Annapolis, Hamas wants to avoid having its fate sealed by its June takeover of the Gaza Strip. That coup created a geographic and institutional divide between Hamas and Fatah that gave the West an opportunity to sideline Hamas in the Gaza Strip while politically and financially engaging Abbas’ Fatah movement in the West Bank.
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