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Egypt holds separate bilateral talks with Palestinian groups

Other News Materials 27 August 2008 00:05 (UTC +04:00)

Palestinian officials holding talks in Egypt on ending divisions among the various Palestinian groups said Tuesday that talks between all Palestinian groups are to resume at the end of next month, dpa reported.

Egypt is to hold separate talks with individual Palestinian factions throughout the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which starts September 1, Mohamad al-Hindi, a senior official of the Islamic Jihad group, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

But the all-inclusive round of talks would resume after the Eid el-Fitr feast, during the first three days after the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

"Both Hamas and Fatah are invited to these separate talks," al- Hindi said.

Islamic Jihad held a second day of talks with Egyptian officials in Cairo on Tuesday that al-Hindi told dpa had focused on the presence of Egyptian security advisors in the Gaza Strip.

"Discussions tackled the presence of Egyptian advisors in Gaza for security reasons only," he said, adding that they had been there before the militant Islamic Hamas group's takeover in June 2007.

He also refuted reports of the possibility of Arab forces being deployed in the enclave.

Al-Hindi said his group was committed to the Egyptian-brokered Palestinian-Israeli truce in Gaza that began last May.

However, he said Palestinian factions that are involved in the Egyptian-brokered truce between several Palestinian factions - including Hamas - and Israel, should all sit and discuss how Israel was not committed to the truce.

Commenting on the latest round of talks between his group and Egyptian officials, al-Hindi said: " Egypt chose the Islamic Jihad to start the talks because of its balanced relationship with all other Palestinian factions."

" Egypt has shown a genuine will to bridge the internal Palestinian gap," he said. "Greater efforts are however needed to reconcile the splits, especially between Fatah and Hamas."

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) were also expected for talks in Egypt.

Egypt's efforts over recent months in trying to bring about Palestinian reconciliation has been taking place behind closed doors, with very little of what is discussed being made public.

In May, Egypt mediated talks between Israel and Hamas, that ended in agreement on a six-month truce in the Gaza Strip.

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