DAMASCUS: Hamas exiled leader Khaled Meshaal said on Sunday that a reconciliation deal with rival Palestinian faction Fatah was within reach and called on Egypt to host a meeting to seal an accord.
He urged Egypt to receive us in Cairo … and you will see that the Palestinians will be reconciled immediately. That is my message to Egypt.
The reconciliation is within reach, Meshaal said at a mourning ceremony in Damascus for Mahmud Al-Mabhuh, a top Hamas insurgent who was killed in Dubai on Jan. 20.
We will be reconciled on the basis of what was agreed and we will sign, he said. Invite us to Cairo with Fatah, and all the factions as well as independent leaders, and you will see a real reconciliation.
Egypt has already twice postponed the planned signing of a reconciliation agreement in Cairo because of deep divisions between the Islamist movement Hamas and the secular Fatah.
Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip from Fatah after deadly clashes in June 2007, a year after winning Palestinian legislative elections. -AFP
