Egypt, Palestinian presidents, Hamas chief to meet: Cairo

Google – AFP, 9 January 2013

Hamas politburo chief Khaled Meshaal (L) and Palestinian president

 Mahmud Abbas (R) meet in Cairo on November 24, 2011 (Hamas Press

Office/AFP/File)

CAIRO, Cyprus — Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi will meet his Palestinian counterpart, Mahmoud Abbas, and Hamas politburo chief Khaled Meshaal in Cairo on Wednesday, Morsi's office said.

Abbas and Meshaal will first "meet Egypt's intelligence chief before holding a three-way meeting with President Morsi," presidential spokesman Yasser Ali told AFP.

Azzam al-Ahmad, who is in charge of reconciliation efforts between his Fatah party, of which Abbas is head, said Abbas was traveling to Egypt at Morsi's invitation to discuss the subject.

Meshaal and aides arrived in Cairo from Doha on Tuesday for a visit of several days, the official MENA news agency said.

Hamas and Fatah had been at loggerheads since the Islamist movement seized control of Gaza in June 2007, following its victory in Palestinian parliamentary elections the previous year.

Under Egyptian mediation, the two groups reached a unity agreement in April 2011, but the main provisions of that deal have so far not been implemented.

This will be the first meeting between Abbas and Meshaal hosted by the Egyptian president since he was elected in June of last year.

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