A former economic advisor to Yasser Arafat arrived in Ramallah Friday after years of absence to advise Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas on a national unity government. Mohammed Rashid came to Ramallah from Syria, where he met with the head of Hamas Political Bureau, Khaled Meshal.

Palestinian soures said Meshal has known Rashid since the days of Arafat and that Rashid is considered to be completely independent. Independent PA parliament member Ziad Abu Ammar is also involved in the talks. Yesterday it was reported that major progress had been made in the talks involving Ziad Abu Ammar and Rashid, considered a back-channel to the open negotiations taking place in Gaza between representatives of the factions. Hamas has reportedly agreed that the foreign affairs and finance portfolios would go to independent figures. It has apparently been decided that former finance minister Salem Fayed will get his old job back, and Ziad Abu Ammar himself will be foreign minister. Hamas is still demanding the Interior Ministry, and wants Ismail Haniyeh to remain in the post of prime minister.

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Senior Fatah officials Mohammed Dahlan and Samir Masharawi were also at the meeting between Abbas and Rashid, who had been out of touch for a long time. Rashid has been absent from the territories due to suspicions of corruption, but Ziad Abu Ammar is in continuous contact with Dahlan.

Abbas will reportedly be meeting with Meshal during a visit to Damascus this month.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian government signed an agreement with the civil service union to end the four-month PA workers' strike. Deputy Finance Minister Samir Abu Aisha said salaries would be paid from funds in the account of the Arab League, estimated at $30 million.

On Friday the PA's preventive security force uncovered a tunnel in which explosives had been hidden under a road east of the Jabalya refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip. Palestinian security forces said the road is used as a main artery by senior PA officials on their way to the Erez crossing and back and that an assassination attempt may have been planned. Following the discovery of the tunnel, there were exchanges of fire between Hamas and the preventive security force.