Fatah, Hamas to hold talks next week

Fatah and Hamas

Representatives of Hamas and Fatah are expected to hold a round of talks next week in order to promote a reconciliation, the Maan news agency reported Sunday. The talks were to take place in Syria last week, but were postponed after Fatah proposed to hold the meeting in another location, accusing Syria of "humiliating" the Palestinian president at the recent Arab League summit in Libya.

 Hamas leader Salah Al-Bardawil was quoted by the news agency as saying that the place of the meeting would be agreed upon later and that Damascus could still be an option. Al-Bardawil urged Fatah not to "project their political program on Hamas," but said their program could "come closer" if Fatah agreed not to recognize the Israeli "occupation," and establish a Palestinian state on 1967 borders "while preserving our right in all of Palestine," Maan said.

 Senior Fatah official Azzam Al-Ahmad was quoted as saying that the next meeting, expected to focus on the outstanding security issue, would be "decisive and final." Following the talks, a date will be set for the ratification of the Egypt-backed reconciliation agreement between Hamas and Fatah, he said.