Cairo - Rival Fatah and Islamic Hamas movement negotiators are to meet Saturday in Cairo for another session in ongoing talks seeking an end to tensions between the two Palestinian factions. A Hamas spokesman in the Gaza Strip told reporters that the Hamas delegation, headed by senior Hamas leader Kahlil el-Hayya, arrived in Cairo on Friday for an "evaluation" session.
The core issues up for discussion in Cairo later on Saturday would be the political arrests of Hamas members in the West Bank and preparation for a subsequent round of talks on July 25.
"The conferees will also evaluate the previous sessions and the meetings held last week in Damascus and Ramallah with the Egyptian delegation headed by General Mohamed Ibrahim," said the spokesman.
Azzam el-Ahmed, Fatah's negotiator in the talks, said the meeting in Cairo on Saturday "aims basically at confirming the seventh round of dialogue due on July 25."
"Nothing new has happened so far in all the unresolved outstanding issues," el-Ahmed told reporters, adding "the gaps are still wide in most of the issues, mainly the joint factional committee."
Hamas has de facto control of the Gaza Strip after routing Fatah forces in 2007 while Fatah forces run the Palestinian government in the West Bank. The two are seeking some kind of unity, a prerequisite for peace talks with Israel.
Tensions within Fatah "might lead to the postponement of the last round of dialogue," some Palestinian sources said, quoted in the Egyptian daily al-Ahram.
The party has been at odds ever since Farouq al-Qaddoumi, a senior member of both Fatah and the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) Executive Committee, released a transcript Wednesday showing Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in a meeting with former Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon during which an assassination plot against former PLO leader Yasser Arafat was discussed.
"The feuds with Fatah leader Farouq el-Qadoumi and the preparations for Fatah General Assembly due on August 4, might postpone holding the next round of dialogue between Fatah and Hamas," said the sources.
The Hamas movement has accused Fatah for trying to put obstacles up in order to keep postponing the dialogue.
