Morsi meets Palestinian leaders for unity talks - separately

9 January 2013, 23:23 (GMT+04:00)

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Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi on Wednesday held separate meetings with the leaders of the Palestinian factions, Fatah and Hamas, in a bid to promote unity talks between the rival groups, dpa reported.

Morsi met President Mahmoud Abbas, then held talks with Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal.

There were no details available from the talks.

Egypt brokered a unity deal in 2011 that was meant to pave the way for a joint interim government and elections in 2012, but negotiations halted.

The unity deal aims to end a bitter, and at times violent, feud between pro-Hamas Islamists and Abbas's secular Fatah party.

Relations between the two parties soured after Hamas defeated Fatah in the 2006 parliamentary election. Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip in June 2007 after routing Fatah forces loyal to Abbas. Abbas's Fatah governs the Israeli-occupied West Bank.