Officials say PNI joined PLO at Cairo talks

Officials from Islamic Jihad and the Palestinian National Initiative said late Thursday that they had accepted positions on an "interim leadership" of the PLO. Ayed Yaghi, a PNI leader, said the small faction joined the PLO and that it was a natural position to take. Yaghi told Ma’an that Thursday's talks in Cairo marked a milestone in the history of the Palestinian people. He pointed out that the PNI had previously submitted a request to join the PLO in 2004. Head of the PNI Mustafa Barghouthi called it "a historic day in the lives of the Palestinian people with the development of a united national leadership as Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the PNI joined the PLO’s leadership framework." Barghouthi said the result of the meeting was to activate the PLO and built its institutions through democratic elections, enabling participation and follow-up on what was agreed upon in the talks. Officials will not be able to develop a strategy for the national struggle including a "unified leadership of Palestinian popular resistance." The next meeting is scheduled for Feb. 2 in Cairo, he added.