Assad calls for Palestinian reconciliation in Abbas talks

0 Comments | AFP, July, 2008

DAMASCUS (AFP) — Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Sunday called for reconciliation between Palestinian factions in a meeting with visiting Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas, the state news agency SANA reported.

He stressed "the need to exert every effort to achieve unity among Palestinian ranks as the sole means to recover their rights, notably the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as capital," it said.

SANA reported that Abbas hailed "the role of Syria in strengthening Arab solidarity, in reunifying the Palestinians and supporting just Palestinian causes."

Abbas was earlier quoted as saying he would also discuss with Assad "peace negotiations with Israel."

Khaled Meshaal, the exiled political chief of the Palestinian...