Abbas, Mashaal, emir of Qatar hold 'positive' talks in Doha, Palestinians report
PA president, Hamas leader and Qatari ruler discuss ways to end conflict in Gaza, sources in Ramallah say.
By KHALED ABU TOAMEH(L R) Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and exiled Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal arrive for a meeting in Doha.(photo credit: REUTERS)
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal met in Doha on Thursday to discuss ways of resuming the indirect talks with Israel over a long-term cease-fire in the Gaza Strip.The meeting was held in the presence of the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani.Abbas and the emir invited Mashaal to join the meeting they were holding to discuss ways of ending the fighting between Israel and Hamas, Palestinian sources said.Abbas arrived in Doha on Wednesday at the head of a delegation consisting of Saeb Erekat, the chief negotiator; Azzam al-Ahmed, head of the Palestinian delegation to the cease-fire talks; and Majed Faraj, commander of the PA’s General Intelligence Service.The PA president traveled to Qatar in an effort to persuade Mashaal and the Hamas leadership to agree to the resumption of the Cairo truce talks, which collapsed earlier this week when rockets were fired at Israel, the sources said.Abbas’s visit coincided with the IAF’s killing of three top Hamas commanders in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, and subsequent threats from Hamas to avenge their deaths and escalate the rocket attacks on Israel.
