Palestinian reconciliation within reach

Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal said on Sunday that a reconciliation deal with rival Palestinian faction Fatah was “within reach” and called on Egypt to host a meeting to seal an accord.

He urged Egypt “to receive us in Cairo … and you will see that the Palestinians will be reconciled immediately. That is my message to Egypt.”

“The reconciliation is within reach,” Meshaal said at a mourning ceremony in Damascus for Mahmud al-Mabhuh, a top Hamas resistance activist who was assassinated in Dubai on January 20.

“We will be reconciled on the basis of what was agreed and we will sign,” he said. “Invite us to Cairo with Fatah, and all the factions as well as independent leaders, and you will see a real reconciliation.”

Egypt has already twice postponed the planned signing of a reconciliation agreement in Cairo because of deep divisions between the democratically elected movement Hamas and the Fatah.