( dpa ) - Khaled Mashaal, the Damascus-based leader of the Palestinian militant movement Hamas, is to visit Yemen next week for talks on Yemeni efforts at reconciliation between Hamas and the rival Fatah faction, Yemeni official sources said Friday.
The sources said Mashaal, whose movement has controlled the Gaza Strip since last June, would meet with Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh to discuss a Yemeni plan to bring Hamas leaders together with counterparts from Fatah.
Saleh has offered to mediate between Hamas and Fatah, urging Hamas to end its control of the Gaza Strip which it gained by force after its forces routed forces loyal to the Fatah faction of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
The seizure of Gaza by Hamas prompted the Western-backed Abbas to dismiss the Hamas-led cabinet and form a transitional government in the West Bank.
Under the Yemeni plan, Hamas would return the situation in the Gaza Strip to its previous condition before intiating a dialogue with Fatah.
Abbas has welcomed the Yemeni initiative, but Hamas leaders said they would not accept any preconditions for the dialogue.