Fatah andHamas areslated to renew reconciliation efforts in the near future following a successful meeting between Hamas Politburo Chief Khaled Mashaal and Fatah official Azzam al-Ahmed in Damascus on Friday.
The two discussed resuming negotiations and it was later stated that both parties had agree on basic guidelines on which to base the talks.
Mashaal and al-Ahmed also discussed the main points of contention between the two groups which were noted in the Egyptian reconciliation paper which Fatah signed and Hamas rejected last year.
A joint communiqué stated that the meeting was held "in a fraternal and friendly climate with the aim of ending divisions."
Mashaal said after the meeting that the parties agreed to hold an additional meeting in order to reach a formula for a definitive understanding on the way to full Palestinian reconciliation.