Last update - 00:00 06/01/2008
Abbas travels to Riyadh to meet with Saudi King Abdullah
By Haaretz Staff
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas traveled to Saudi Arabia on
Saturday to meet with King Abdullah on the possibility of renewing
talks between rival Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas.
Riyadh has been actively urging Abbas to renew contacts with the
radical Islamist organization that took over the Gaza Strip following a brief battlewith Fatah in June.
For his part, Hamas political bureau chief Khaled Meshal called on
Abbas to renew the dialogue with his group without preconditions.
"We are ready for dialogue without conditions," Meshal said. "Our hand
is extended out and all the issues in dispute can be put on the
table," he added.
But Meshal also demanded that Fayyad's government resign and called on
the Palestinians to undermine its efforts to govern. He said its
behavior is detrimental to the interests of the Palestinian people.