RAMALLAH: The Fatah party of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas and its rivals in the Hamas movement on Sunday said they had agreed to halt political arrests and exchange lists of prisoners.

The decision came after the two main Palestinian groups held simultaneous meetings in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip on the eve of the two-year anniversary of the violent Hamas takeover of the coastal territory.

‘The Fatah and Hamas delegations agreed to reject political arrests out of principle because it is against Palestinian law and agreed to exchange lists of detainees to begin studying the conditions of their detention,’ Azzam Al-Ahmed, the head of the Fatah delegation, told reporters.

He added however that security forces in the West Bank were politically neutral and that the issue of the detainees would be decided upon in coordination with Abbas.

Omar Abdelraziq, the head of the Hamas delegation, confirmed the deal at the same press conference and said the two sides would rely on the Independent Commission for Human Rights to determine the status of the detainees.

Since the Hamas takeover each group has accused its rival of launching waves of politically-motivated arrests, mistreating detainees and closing political institutions.

Palestinian human rights groups have slammed the conduct of both parties.

Since the June 15, 2007 violent takeover by Hamas of the Gaza Strip, the Palestinians have been split into hostile rival entities.

Tensions between the two groups flared in recent weeks when clashes between Palestinian security forces and Hamas militants in the West Bank town of Qalqiliya killed nine people including a top Hamas commander in two arrest operations. —AFP