Abbas arrives in Cairo to meet rival leader

Nov 22, 2011, 17:53 GMT

Ramallah/Cairo - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas arrived in Cairo Tuesday afternoon, where he will meet the leader of the rival Hamas party to work on a reconciliation plan, an official from Abbas' Fatah party said.

Abbas is scheduled to meet the head of Egypt's ruling military council, Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, before he meets the head of Hamas' politburo, Khaled Mashaal, on Thursday.

Azzam al-Ahmad, a senior official from Abbas's Fatah party, said the meeting between Abbas and Mashaal will be held as scheduled, despite an ongoing wave of turmoil in Cairo.

Abbas and Mashaal will try to agree on a candidate to act as a prime minister for a transitional government to rule the Palestinian territories until elections.

That was stipulated in an Egyptian-brokered agreement the feuding Palestinian rivals signed in May.

'We are going to Cairo with open hearts to confer in all issues and we won't retreat,' al-Ahmad told Voice of Palestine Radio.

In 2007, Hamas routed pro-Abbas forces and took over Gaza, leaving the Fatah-led Palestinian National Authority confined to the West Bank.

Abbas first wanted to retain his West Bank prime minister, Salam Fayyad, for the upcoming government, but Hamas rejected that option. As a result, implementation of May's agreement was delayed.

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