Abbas to meet Hamas leader soon

Palestinian National Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will meet in Cairo with Khaled Meshaal, head of the Islamic Hamas movement's politburo, a senior Palestinian official said Thursday. Abbas will discuss all Palestinian considerations with Meshaal, Saeb Erekat, a senior Palestinian negotiator, told Xinhua, adding that the president received a phone call from the Hamas leader on Wednesday and they agreed to meet soon. "They haven't agreed yet on a date for the meeting," Erekat said. Abbas and Meshaal last time met in Cairo in May when they signed the Egypt-brokered pact of reconciliation, under which they agreed to end more than three years of internal Palestinian division. However, the two rivals disagreed on the details of implementing the pact, mainly the assignment of prime minister of the new united government that will prepare for holding general elections. Ties between the rival Palestinian groups became tense in the wake of the Palestinian bid for statehood at the United Nations last month. The Hamas government, which rules the Gaza Strip, earlier briefed Abbas on the details of a prisoner swap deal it reached with Israel over releasing the captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in exchange for 1,027 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. Abbas hailed the deal, according to the state-run news agency Wafa. Meanwhile, Azzam al-Ahmad, chief of Fatah party said Wednesday that he held talks with Meshaal in Cairo and discussed ways of overcoming the current impasse to implement the reconciliation.