A meeting between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas leader Khaled Meshal was postponed on Saturday after aides failed to solve a rift over a unity government that could help stop communal violence.

The meeting scheduled in the Syrian capital late on Saturday was postponed after officials failed to reconcile differences over the proposed government and how it would deal with Western demands, a senior Hamas official said.

"Efforts are under way to convene the meeting tomorrow (Sunday). Disagreements persist on the manifesto and the proposed letter to form the government," Hamas politburo member Izzat al-Rishq said.

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Asked if Abbas could leave Damascus as scheduled on Sunday without meeting the Hamas leader, Rishq said: "Everything is possible."

Ramadan Shallah, head of Islamic Jihad, met Abbas late into the night to try to mediate a deal.

"There are vital issues that remain unresolved. Neither Hamas nor Fatah have a timetable to reach a deal," Shallah said after the meeting.

Abbas arrived in Damascus on Saturday where he met Syrian President Bashar Assad, and was set to meet Meshal, the head of the Hamas political bureau, late on Saturday.

The two politicians were expected to discuss the names of ministers for interior, finance and foreign affairs in a proposed unity government, al-Rishq said.

Following Abbas' meeting with Assad, Palestinian Parliament member Nabil Amar, who participated in the meeting, said that Assad expressed his willingness to support "efforts to achieve Palestinian unity."

Upon his arrival at the Damascus airport, Abbas was greeted by Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem and then went to the presidential palace for talks with Assad.

He said there were many common issues to be discussed with the Syrians "and it's high time to discuss these issues."

Abbas met on Friday night with Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Peter McKay in Amman and rejected the idea of establishing an transitional Palestinian state, saying that a Palestinian state should be established according to United States President George Bush's road map.

Following the meeting, Abbas aide Saeb Erekat told reporters, "We have seen a commitment tonight from the foreign minister of Canada to a two-state solution, toward pursuing a meaningful peace process and toward the implementation of the roadmap."

Abbas and Meshal are set to discuss efforts to end conflicts between Hamas and Fatah in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The two leaders have not met in over a year.

Meshal and Abbas completely broke contact for several months following an address by the Hamas leader in Damascus in which he accused the PA chairman of trying to overthrow the elected Hamas government.

Abu Amar and Mohammed Rashid, the economic adviser to the later Yasser Arafat, have been busy for weeks mediating between the two Palestinian leaders.

Abu Amar, who is now in Jordan following meetings in Damascus with Meshal, told Haaretz that there has been significant progress in talks to create a Palestinian national unity government. There are still issues, he said, that require talks between Abbas and Meshal, but did not specify.

According to Abbas, if the latest round of unity government talks with Hamas fails, he will call early elections. Abbas acknowledged, however, that Hamas could emerge the victor once again.

"We say either there is a [unity] government or elections," he said after a meeting with EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana in the West Bank city of Ramallah. "Elections don't mean we want to throw Hamas into the sea. It has been elected and can be elected again."

Palestinian sources on Thursday said that the crux of the dispute over a unity government is the Interior Ministry and who will lead it.

Hamas is demanding that it choose a minister to fill the post, which in effect controls internal security mechanisms. However, Abbas would like to appoint an independent figure who is not associated with either Fatah or Hamas.

However, it has already been agreed, apparently, that the Abu Amar will be foreign minister in the Palestinian unity government, while the Finance Ministry will be filled by Salam Fayad, who has already served in that role and who belongs to the Third Way party.

Another disputed issue in the negotiations for a unity government is its diplomatic platform.

There is still no agreement on issues such as acceptance of previous accords signed between the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and Israel, or the renouncing all forms of violence. Both are prerequisites for recognition of a Palestinian government by the Quartet of the United Nations, the United States, the European Union and Russia. A third is recognition of Israel.

Earlier this week, Haaretz reported that jailed Tanzim leader Marwan Barghouti proposed a solution to the impasse, which the two sides are reportedly discussing. It reportedly proposes that current Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh will remain in his post, but the foreign affairs, finance and interior ministries be headed by independents.

Meanwhile, Fatah strongman Mohammad Dahlan, a top adviser to Abbas, issued a veiled threat to the governing Hamas leadership on Friday saying he would "protect" his party's members from being killed by Hamas.

"I will not accept, or remain silent, if somebody from Fatah is killed by Hamas. No way. There is no compromise on this. If Hamas kills somebody from Fatah, I will confront them," said in Ramallah.

"Hamas has planned and executed political assassinations against Fatah, but because they have failed to govern they want to rule through the gun. This doesn't work and Fatah told them so at a major rally on Jan. 7," Dahlan told reporters.

"I said at the rally that we are not going to respond to blood with blood, but we are going to protect our people and we have already begun doing this. It is happening right now."

Asked how he views his own role, Dahlan said: "I am a member of Fatah, I will continue to serve Fatah. The sons of Fatah like me and I love them. Forget about the suit I'm wearing, I'm a street boy."