Fatah and Hamas to meet in Cairo to discuss Palestinian elections

Palestinian rival factions Fatah and Hamas will hold a new round of talks Tuesday in the Egyptian capital to push on with plans for forthcoming elections.

The meeting, announced today by the Islamist terror group Hamas and the secular Fatah faction, will come more than a month after the two factions agreed in Cairo talks on “mechanisms” for the polls.

The parliamentary and presidential polls are set for May 22 and July 31, respectively, and will be the first Palestinian elections in 15 years.

On Tuesday in Cairo the two sides will discuss “key issues linked to the elections,” Hamas official Khalil al-Khalil says.

“After the legislative elections, we would like to form a national unity government… and we would prefer to reach consensus on just one national candidate for the presidential vote,” he says.

A spokesman for Abbas, meanwhile, stresses that the Palestinian Authority president is determined to see through the elections despite tensions within Fatah.

— with AFP

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