Abbas spokesman rules out Hamas talks in Syria

0 Comments | AFP, July, 2008

AMMAN (AFP) — Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas does not plan to meet with rival leaders of Hamas or other Palestinian factions based in Damascus when he visits Syria on Sunday, his spokesman said.

"There are no arrangements for such any meeting with Hamas leaders or others," Nabil Abu Rudeina told reporters in Jordan on Saturday.

"The president will travel tomorrow (Sunday) to Syria... to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian track of the Middle East peace process and other issues of common interest" with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, he said.

Last month Abbas called for talks with Hamas, which ousted his Fatah loyalists from the Gaza Strip in bloody clashes in June 2007.

Abu Rudeina said the initiative "is still on the table... We are ready if Hamas...