Reply #2: Update: Palestinian leaders Abbas and Meshaal begin talks

[oberliner]

DAMASCUS, Jan 21 (Reuters) - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal began talks in Damascus on Sunday to try to ease the Palestinian political crisis and internecine fighting, aides to the two politicians said.

A meeting scheduled for late on Saturday was postponed after officials failed to reconcile differences over the new government and how it would deal with Western demands.

Izzat al-Rishq, a senior Hamas official, told Reuters the group did not expect Sunday's talks to result in an agreement on a unity government.

"The main difference on the government's manifesto persists. The meeting will convene to affirm that the two sides are committed to continue dialogue and reject the use of violence and spilling of Palestinian blood," Rishq said.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L21659819.htm