Palestinian Islamic movement Hamas and Palestinian Fatah movement agreed on Friday to take steps to resume inter-Palesitinian reconciliation.
According to a statement issued after a three-hour meeting, the two movements reached an agreement to start practical steps to put an end to the rift between the two rival movements, Xinhua reported.
The Fatah delegation met on Friday with the Damascus-based Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal in Damascus to restart inter- Palestinian reconciliation talks between the two rival movements.
The meeting comes as the fruit of efforts by Mashaal after he met in Saudi Arabia with Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, who has been instrumental in the past efforts by Cairo to end the dispute between the two parties.
Hamas and Fatah have been engaged in a sour power struggle since the Islamic movement swept its rival secular Fatah in legislative elections in 2006.
Last year, Egypt suspended its mediation role, and ties between Cairo and Hamas have deteriorated after Hamas rejected the Egyptian-drafted proposal, raising reservations involving security and elections.