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Hamas ready for talks with rival | Hamas ready for talks with rival |
(20 minutes later) | |
The Palestinian Islamist movement, Hamas, has said it has agreed to hold reconciliation talks with the rival Fatah group of President Mahmoud Abbas. | |
Hamas leader Ismail Haniya suggested it might be willing to relinquish control of Gaza, which it seized from Fatah in June, in a statement on its website. | |
Mr Haniya said his group's control of the coastal territory was "temporary". | |
Mr Abbas has ruled out reconciliation with Hamas until it gives up the Gaza Strip and submits to his authority. | |
After Hamas ejected Fatah from Gaza, Mr Abbas declared Mr Haniya's coalition government void and appointed a new prime minister. | |
"There is a serious movement in the realm of Palestinian dialogue and we have agreed to hold a dialogue with Fatah in one of the Arab capitals," Mr Haniya said in the statement. | |
"Our administration in Gaza is temporary," he added. | |
A Fatah official in Gaza told the Reuters news agency that he could not immediately confirm that the reconciliation talks would take place, but another official said they might happen as early as next week in Cairo. |