Three respected Arab professionals from the Gaza Strip who went to Cairo last week are believed to be trying to lay the groundwork for an autonomous Palestinian leadership in the territory, parallel to, if not entirely dissociated from, the Palestine Liberation Organization.
Such speculation was triggered by the visit to Cairo undertaken by Fayez Abu-Rahme, a prominent lawyer; Akil Mattar, chairman of the Gaza Engineers Association; and Dr. Akram Mattar, director of the Gaza ophthalmic hospital.
They arrived in the Egyptian capital on March 28 and are expected to remain there for another week.
Abu-Rahme is politically identified with Al Fatah, the largest faction of the PLO. But he also has good relations with the Israeli authorities.
He said the purpose of his Cairo visit is to improve relations between the Egyptian government and the PLO, which has suffered because of Palestinian support for Saddam Hussein of Iraq.
Though warned by the Israeli authorities to have no contacts with the PLO, the three have already met with the PLO representative in Cairo, Sayid Mahmoud Kamel, and his deputy, the Israeli daily Ha’aretz reported Wednesday.
Observers believe one purpose of their journey is to seek PLO approval to introduce certain minimal measures that would give the Gaza population greater autonomy.
One idea floated in Cairo is for municipal elections in the Gaza Strip. At present, the mayors are appointed by the Israeli authorities.
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