Former Hamas Spokeman: Abbas Lying

JERUSALEM, Israel -- Former Hamas spokesman Ihab al-Ghussein says Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is lying to Americans, the Palestinian Media Watch reported on Monday.

Abbas' public statements, he says, are designed to trick the Americans.

"When I go out [publicly] and say the [PA] government is my [Abbas'] government and it recognizes Israel and so on, fine…these words are meant to trick the Americans," al-Ghussein, who served as a Hamas spokesman until the formation of the Fatah-Hamas unity government, posted on his Facebook page.

Al-Ghussein wrote that Palestinians should wake up and see that Abbas and the reconciliation process is a joke.

"You know what Mahmoud Abbas says behind closed doors? He says, 'guys let me [continue] saying what I say to the media. Those words are meant for the Americans and for the occupation [Israel] and not for you [Hamas]. What's important is what we agree on among ourselves," he continued.

"In other words, when I go out [publicly] and say the government is my [Abbas'] government and it recognizes Israel and so on, fine. These words are meant to trick the Americans," al-Ghussein explained.

"But we agree the government has nothing to do with politics, i.e., foreign relations. The same thing happened in 2006. Don't harp on everything I tell the media. Forget about the statements in the media," he wrote.

"The problem isn't with him [Abbas]. The problem is with whoever believes him. Ha, ha, ha! (I really do want real reconciliation, meaning partnership and achieving unity, but not reconciliation as Abbas means it,)" al-Ghussein concluded parenthetically.