Gaza - A senior Fatah official said Saturday that talks with the rival Islamic movement Hamas are likely to be held following an international peace conference slated for November. "I believe the dialogue with the two movements is a certain choice but I think it will be delayed until after the conference in the fall," Qadora Fares, a member of the central committee of President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah faction, told reporters.
US President George W Bush called for a meeting to discuss resumption of Israeli-Palestinian peace process after Abbas ended a short-lived coalition with Hamas after Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip in fierce fighting against pro-Abbas forces last June.
Abbas considered the takeover a coup against his legitimacy.
Following the Gaza takeover, Abbas has been meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert almost regularly, hoping to reach a declaration of principles to be presented to the US-sponsored conference.
According to Fares, Fatah will have to reconsider its stance, which bans any dialogue with Hamas, if the conference fails to achieve any breakthrough on the issue of creating a Palestinian state.
"But if such a breakthrough is achieved, then Hamas has to revise itself and be more realistic in dealing with the political development," he added.
