Abbas talks with Ahmadinejad "frank and productive"

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's meeting with his Iranian peer Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was "frank and productive," senior Palestinian Authority official Saeb Erekat said. Abbas told Ahmadinejad that the Palestinian diplomatic target was to establish a Palestinian state based on 1967 borders with Al Quds (Jerusalem ) as its capital, in accordance with international law, Erekat told Maan News Agency, adding that Abbas asked for Ahmadinejad's support in this quest. Meanwhile, Ahmadinejad called on Abbas to implement the Palestinian reconciliation between his Fatah party and Hamas immediately. Abbas reassured the Iranian leader that national unity was his "top priority," Erekat said. Abbas was in Tehran to take part in the 16th Non-Aligned Movement summit, during which he threatened to pull out after Hamas deposed prime minister Ismail Haniyeh announced he had also received an invitation to the summit. Haniyeh later cancelled the trip, citing a desire not to damage reconciliation efforts, while Abbas reassured Ahmadinejad that neither the PLO nor the Palestinian Authority objected to Iran or any other country inviting Hamas leaders to visit, but, according to Erekat, Abbas said inviting Haniyeh to the NAM summit without consulting the PLO would have been "a snub to the legitimacy of the PLO." During their meeting, Ahmadinejad offered to host reconciliation talks between the Palestinian factions, and Abbas welcomed the invitation but insisted that any Iranian assistance must be done through reconciliation sponsor, Egypt.