Last update - 00:00 06/10/2006
Qatari FM visits Damascus to further Hamas-Fatah talks
By Yoav Stern, Haaretz Correspondent
Qatari Foreign Minister Hamed bin Jasim al Thani arrived in Damascus Thursday and met with President Hafez Assad to discuss the need for continued internal Palestinian dialogue, according to the Syrian news agency SANA.
Both men expressed their support for such dialogue. SANA also said that Syria and Qatar would continue coordinating their positions "in a way that will serve their interests and those of the Arab nation."
The purpose of bin Jasim's visit was to further talks between Hamas and Fatah, which had reached an impasse because of the opposition by Damascus-based Hamas leader Khaled Meshal to any move that meant recognition of Israel.
Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas recently visited the Qatari capital, Doha, where Qatari officials proposed he meet with Meshal, who heads Hamas's political wing and is the leader of the group outside the territories. However, Abbas refused, conditioning a meeting on an apology from Meshal for remarks made several weeks ago in which he accused Abbas of "conspiring" against the Palestinian people.
A senior Hamas official, Mohammed Nazal, said in an interview on Al Jazeera television that bin Jasim will meet with Meshal during his visit and that Qatar, like Yemen and Sudan, would like to mediate between Meshal and Abbas.
The Nazareth-based newspaper Al-Sinara, citing Arab and Palestinian sources, reported on Thursday that Hamas leaders in Damascus have agreed to the release of kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit and the establishment of a Palestinian unity government that recognizes Israel, on condition that Israel let them into the Gaza Strip.