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Abbas calls for talks with Hamas

Jun 05 2008

Abbas calls for talks with Hamas

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Arab World

By Agencies

Abbas' call was welcomed by Hamas [File: AFP]

Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, has advocated talks between his Fatah party, which controls the West Bank, and Hamas, which seized power in the Gaza Strip last June.

The call in a speech broadcast on Wednesday came after months of Abbas' insistance that Hamas must relinquish control of Gaza before any dialogue begins.

"For the sake of unity and following calls from Arab and friendly countries to return to the situation that prevailed in Gaza, I call for a comprehensive national dialogue based on the Yemeni intitiative, in all its elements, to end the internal division that harms our people, [our] cause." he said.

Hamas approval

Taher Nunu, a Hamas spokesman in Gaza, said that the call for dialogue was a "positive step".

"We welcome this call by the president Abbas to launch a national dialogue," he said.

Abbas said that if the talks succeed, "I will call for new legislative and presidential elections."

A Yemeni-brokered deal in March were the first direct talks between Hamas and Fatah since Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip.

The deal, signed by both sides, aimed to end the standoff between both sides by returning to the status quo that existed before Hamas' siezure of power.