Slow start to Palestinian talks

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Leaders of the two main Palestinian factions have held new talks about forming a national unity government.

President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah had a two-hour meeting with the Prime Minister, Ismail Haniya, of Hamas.

Although there has been talk that the two sides are close to agreement, the BBC correspondent in Gaza says these discussions did not go well.

Reports say Fatah was unhappy with the candidate Hamas offered as a possible replacement for Mr Haniya.

Health Minister Basim Naeem may be considered too close to the Islamist group.

The negotiations are scheduled to continue however, and many Palestinians will hope that a coalition will eventually emerge, the BBC's Alan Johnston in Gaza says.

Months of deadlock

A Palestinian member of parliament who has been involved in the continuing negotiations, Mustafa al-Barghouti, said the talks were moving "on the right track".

"Some issues need further discussions and we hope to be able to resume the talks tomorrow or the day after," Mr Abbas' spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina said.

Hamas and Fatah have been deadlocked for months over attempts to form a national unity government acceptable to the West.

Our correpondent says there are hopes a coalition could ease the sometimes violent tensions between the two factions and lead to a lifting of western sanctions against the present Hamas administration.

Hamas won January's parliamentary election handsomely.

But its government was shunned from the start by the US and the European Union because Hamas refuses to accept Israel's right to exist, and US and Israeli economic sanctions have done considerable damage.