Meshaal, Abbas to meet in Doha

Hamas Chief Khalid Meshaal and Fatah Leader Mahmoud Abbas are to meet in Doha next month, Masralarabia.com reported Secretary-General of Fatah’s Revolutionary Council Amin Maqboul saying yesterday.

The meeting comes after a series of meetings between senior leaders from both Palestinian movements held in Qatar aiming to reach an agreement that ends the mutual disputes which started in 2006, when general elections gave Hamas the majority in the Palestinian Parliament.

“Some progress was achieved in the talks between Fatah and Hamas in Doha,” Maqboul said, “therefore, arrangements are going on to bring Abbas and Meshaal together in order to announce a mechanism to implement the agreements.”

“At the beginning, the Qatari invitation was aimed at bringing Abbas and Meshaal together, then it was modified to include prior meetings to discuss outstanding issues.”

Regarding the outstanding issues, Maqboul said: “Until now, the outstanding issues are: security, civil servants employed by Hamas and the agenda of the national unity government.”