Abbas, Mashal, Likely To Meet In Cairo

Tuesday January 08, 2013 11:50 by IMEMC & Agencies

Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, and Hamas’ Political Bureau Chief, Khaled Mashal, will likely be holding a meeting in Cairo Wednesday, Egyptian sources reported; the meeting has not been scheduled or confirmed yet.

Mashal (Left) And Abbas - PNN

Egyptian President, Mohammad Morsi, called for a meeting between Abbas and Mashal, and stated that he hopes this meeting would lead to full reconciliation and unity, but also stated that this issue “would not be an easy task”.

The Palestine News Network (PNN) has reported that Egyptian Ambassador in Ramallah, Yasser Othman, told the Turkish Anadolu Agency that Morsi sent an official invitation to his Palestinian counterpart to visit Egypt Wednesday, “to discuss various issues” topped by Palestinian reconciliation.

Member of the Central Committee of Fateh movement, Azzam Al-Ahmad, told the Anadolu news agency that “so far, there has been no arrangements for the Abbas-Mashal meeting”, but added that “such a meeting is likely as, in principle, there is no reason for not holding it”.

Al-Ahmad said that Abbas will be heading to Cairo on an official visit based on the invitation of President Morsi.

Deputy head of the political Bureau of the Hamas movement, Mousa Abu Marzouq, stated that Hamas delegates, headed by Mashal will be arriving in Cairo Tuesday to hold talks with Egyptian officials.

But other Hamas sources told the Anadolu that Mashal will be meeting Morsi by the beginning of next week, but the exact date has not been determined yet.

The sources added that the meeting would focus on resuming talks on the arrangements meant at achieving full Palestinian national reconciliation mediated by Cairo.

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