A three day meeting between 12 Palestinian factions in Cairo concluded with agreement to extend the period of calm with the conditions that Israel abides by the conditions.

The factions agreed on 6 main points and issued a six point declaration the first article of which stressed the importance of Palestinian constants without compromise, the right of the Palestinian people to resistance to end occupation, the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital and the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes.

The second article said that the participants agreed a program for the year 2005 based on continuing the present atmosphere of calm on the condition that Israel reciprocates by “stopping all forms of aggression against our land and our people wherever they are, as well as releasing all prisoners.”

The declaration stressed that the Israeli continuation with settlement building, the building of the apartheid wall and the Judaization of East Jerusalem could cause the situation to explode.

Participants in the meeting concentrated on the internal issues and recommended the continuation with the comprehensive reforms, reinforcement of the democratic process, holding the legislative and municipal election on the dates.

Participants also agreed to reactivate and develop the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) according to principles to be agreed with all Palestinian factions. A committee, made of the President of the Palestinian National Council (PNC), the executive committee of the PLO and the Secretary Generals of all Palestinian factions, was formed to take care of setting out these principles.

Finally, the participants were unanimous on: the importance of Palestinian unity, dialogue being the only way to resolve differences, unacceptability of use of arms in internal conflicts, respecting Palestinian human rights and the continuation with the dialogue.