RAMALLAH: Fatah envoy Azzam Al-Ahmed said on Wednesday he would meet with Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal in Cairo in a bid to advance the Palestinian reconciliation process.
Speaking to Voice of Palestine radio, Ahmed said he and Meshaal would meet later on Wednesday to discuss "any problems and obstacles that could impede the implementation of the reconciliation."
Rival Palestinian movements Hamas and Fatah are still in the process of trying to implement a reconciliation deal they signed in May 2011, which called for the speedy establishment of an interim government of independents.
The caretaker government was to oversee preparation for legislative and presidential elections by May 2012, but it has yet to be formed.
Disagreements over the composition of the government, and who would head it, have stymied the deal’s implementation. Also, little progress has been made on other fronts, including the release of political prisoners and the integration of the movements’ rival security forces.
Meshaal is due to meet with Palestinian president and Fatah head Mahmoud Abbas in Cairo on Feb. 1 ahead of talks a day later among all the Palestinian factions, also in the Egyptian capital.
Ahmed told Voice of Palestine that an Egyptian delegation was expected to visit the Palestinian territories next week to monitor the implementation of the reconciliation deal, which Cairo helped to broker.
