Ready to talk? Mashaal
Photo: AP
Hamas say ready for inter-Palestinian dialogue
Following mediated Fatah-Hamas discussions, exiled politburo chief Khaled Mashaal says he is for Palestinian reconciliation. Abbas: PLO's executive committee responsible for steps towards talks
Hamas is ready for a national Palestinian dialogue that will achieve reconciliation and preserve national rights; the group's leader was quoted as saying Monday.
Syria's state-run news agency, SANA, said Hamas politburo chief Khaled Mashaal made his comments during a meeting Monday with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem. It said the two discussed the situation in the Palestinian Territories. SANA did not elaborate.
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Later in the day, Hamas issued a statement quoting Mashaal as saying that the group "is ready to participate in any direct dialogue (with Fatah) at one table under Arab umbrella if dialogue was without preconditions.”
Monday's meeting in Syria came two days after the government of Senegal said the rival factions Hamas and Fatah under Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas have achieved a "direct and fraternal" discussion during two days of talks brokered by Senegal's president.
Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade is currently the chairman of the 57-member organization of the Islamic Conference. Hamas' statement said that Mashaal briefed al-Moallem on efforts and contacts under way to launch inter-Palestinian dialogue.
Syria, holding the Arab Summit presidency has officially welcomed Abbas' call for dialogue and promised to help make this dialogue a success . Abbas discussed his initiative for a dialogue with Saudi King Abdullah Sunday and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak Monday.
"We have put forward an initiative in the name of the Palestine Liberation Organization's executive committee and the committee, on all its members, is responsible for any step regarding the dialogue," Abbas told reporters after meeting Mubarak in the Egyptian capital of Cairo.
Several efforts have been made over the past year, notably by Egypt and later by Yemen, to solve disagreements between the two rivals, but to no avail. The deep rift between Fatah Faction and Hamas militant group goes back nearly a year ago, when Hamas ousted Abbas and took control of the Gaza Strip.
