"In response to the noble invitation of Egypt, [our sister] country, which gives its sponsorship - for which it must be thanked - a Palestinian dialogue conference was convened in Egypt from March 15 through March 18, with the participation of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and the participation of 12 organizations and factions.

1. The participants stressed adherence to the Palestinian principles, with no concessions, and the Palestinian people's right of 'resistance,' in order to end the occupation and to establish a fully sovereign Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital and to guarantee the refugees' right of return to their homes and plots of land.

2. The participants agreed on a plan for 2005 focusing [on the preservation of] the commitment to continue the current atmosphere of tahdiah in exchange for a mutual Israeli commitment to stop all forms of aggression against our lands and against our Palestinian people wherever it exists, and to liberate all prisoners and detainees.

3. The participants stressed that the continuation of [Israeli] settlement, the construction of the fence, and the Judaization of East Jerusalem were factors [that have the potential to cause] an explosion.

4. The participants discussed the domestic Palestinian situation and arrived at an agreement regarding the need to complete comprehensive reforms in all spheres, to support democracy in all its aspects, and to hold elections for the local authorities and the Legislative Council at a time determined in accordance with an agreed-upon election law. The conference recommends that the Legislative Council move to change the Election Law for the Legislative Council and adopt a combination system [consisting of] two equal halves [50% using the method of electoral districts and 50% using the method of lists of candidates], and also recommends changing the Election Law for Local Authorities and adopting the relative representation [method].

5. The participants agreed to transform the PLO into an active [organization] and to develop it according to agreed-upon principles, so that it will include all the Palestinian forces and factions - because it is the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. To this end, it was agreed to establish a committee with the mission of determining these principles. The committee is comprise the chairman of the Palestinian National Council, members of the PLO Executive Committee, the secretaries-general of all the factions, and national figures. The Executive Committee chairman will convene its meetings.

6. The participants agreed that dialogue is the only means for maintaining relations among all the elements, so as to support national unity and unity of the ranks amongst the Palestinians. They further agreed that the use of weapons during internal conflict is forbidden, and that the rights of the Palestinian residents must be honored and that they [the residents] must not be harmed. Completing the dialogue is considered a basic need for achieving unity, for the sake of the common goal and the preservation of Palestinian rights." (Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, March 18, 2005)