CAIRO: Egypt will soon host inter-Palestinian talks between rival Fatah and Hamas as well as other factions, Palestinian ambassador to Egypt Nabil Amr was quoted as saying on Thursday.
The talks are aimed at bringing together, under a Yemeni plan, the factions, which have been divided since Hamas violently removed Fatah forces loyal to Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas from the Gaza Strip a year ago.
Egypt will shortly invite around 14 Palestinian factions for dialogue to draw up mechanisms to apply Yemeni President Ali Abdallah Saleh s initiative on a Palestinian national reconciliation, the official MENA news agency quoted Amr as saying.
Egypt is holding consultations with the Palestinian Authority and all Palestinian factions and parties to outline both the timetable and agenda of this dialogue, Amr said.
Last month, Abbas told Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak that Cairo should be the center of joint Arab efforts to end the Palestinians internal crisis.
Abbas in June called for dialogue with Hamas, breaking with his previous policy of rejecting any opening until the Islamists cede control of Gaza, where a fragile Egyptian-brokered truce is in effect.
Hamas has responded favorably to Abbas s overture under the Yemeni-brokered deal which was struck in March. -AFP
