Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas met the head of Hamas political bureau Khaled Meshaal in Cairo late Wednesday.

Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas met the head of Hamas political bureau Khaled Meshaal in Cairo late Wednesday.

The Associate Press reported that the two leaders met after they received an invitation from Egyptian resident Mohamad Mursi.
Media reported that earlier on Wednesday Mursi also held separate talks with Abbas and Meshaal.

Senior officials from Fatah and Hamas participated in the meeting between Abbas and Mashaal.
The discussions focused on ways of implementing the Qatari-sponsored reconciliation accord that was reached last year between Abbas and Mashaal.

The accord calls, among other things, for the establishment of a Palestinian unity government headed by Abbas to prepare for presidential and parliamentary elections in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

On January 4, Abbas called on the rival factions to end their five-year-long dispute and unite.

He made the remarks in a televised speech from his headquarters in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank as his supporters were staging a massive rally organized by the Fatah movement in the besieged Gaza Strip.