Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will hold talks on Saturday with de facto Egyptian leader Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi in Cairo, as part of an attempt to activate the Palestinian reconciliation pact signed in Doha.
The Doha pact, signed on 6 February, was the latest attempt to reconcile Palestinian factions Fatah, of the West Bank, and Hamas, which runs Gaza.
Tantawi and Abbas, who is also the leader of Fatah, will also discuss the results of talks between Palestinian and Israeli negotiators in Amman, Jordan, held in late January under the auspices of the Middle East Quartet.
On Thursday the Palestinian Authority decided not to restart peace talks with Israel, turning down an Israeli incentive package that would have included the release of 30 prisoners.
The package would also have allowed Palestinians more control of Area B, which makes up about 20 percent of the West Bank, the English language website of the Israeli Yedioth Ahronoth reported Friday. West Bank security is handled by both Israeli and Palestinian forces, but civil functions are totally under Palestinian control.
The Palestinian Authority says it will only begin peace negotiations if Israel stops all settlement construction and agrees to a two-state solution.
Fatah and Hamas negotiators are in Cairo to pick the members of the new unity government, to be led by Abbas, to submit to the leadership of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, according to the Arabic language radio station Radio Sawa.
The head of Fatah's delegation, Azzam al-Ahmad, said a Palestinian-Egyptian meeting will be held on Sunday in Cairo.
