Fatah official meets Hamas, Islamic Jihad leaders in Cairo

Fatah leader Azzam al-Ahmad on Wednesday held separate meetings in Cairo with Hamas leader Khalid Mashaal and secretary-general of the Islamic Jihad movement, Ma'an's correspondent said. Al-Ahmad, who heads Fatah's dialogue team with Hamas, met with Mashaal to discuss the reconciliation process. Egyptian officials attended the meeting, which focused on the need to form a unity government. The Fatah leader also met with head of the Islamic Jihad movement Ramadan Shalah to discuss ways to implement the unity deal. Islamic Jihad sources said the meeting between the two officials was unplanned. In May 2011, the leaders met in Cairo and signed a reconciliation agreement, promising to hold elections within a year. The deal followed months of popular protests demanding an end to the factional split which has divided the West Bank and Gaza under separate governments since 2007.