Palestinian Groups Meet In Egypt In Unity Quest

AFP - Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas is to convene a conference of all Palestinian organisations in the Egyptian capital later on Friday, in a new effort to reconcile his Fatah movement with the rival Hamas.

The meeting, scheduled for 1600 GMT, is of the provisional governing body of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, which is charged with bringing non-members Hamas and Islamic Jihad into the PLO.

Fatah and Hamas, which respectively govern the autonomous areas of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, signed an Egypt-mediated reconciliation agreement on April 27, 2011 in Cairo.

But most of its clauses went unheeded and deadlines were constantly postponed.

Friday's conference is to deal with implementing some of the key terms of the agreement, particularly organising long-awaited elections and the formation of a transitional non-partisan government to oversee parliamentary and presidential polls.

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