Palestinian talks into second day

MECCA – Rival Palestinian factions focussed on two key issues as they headed into a second full day of talks yesterday: the composition of a coalition Cabinet, and what commitments the West would require to lift its financial boycott of a government involving the militant group Hamas.

The Hamas and Fatah delegations discussed the options until 3 am Saudi time (midnight GMT) yesterday. They were due to resume midmorning in a palace overlooking the Kaaba, Islam’s holiest site – a venue pointedly chosen by their Saudi hosts.The two sides’ leaders, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah and Khaled Mashaal of Hamas, began the summit Wednesday by pledging to work out a power-sharing agreement, seen as the only way to stop months of bloody street battles from erupting into full-blown civil war.Their agreement, and the way it addresses the existing peace accords with Israel, is also crucial to the relaunch of the peace process and to the ending of the West’s aid blockade, which has left thousands of Palestinian civil servants unpaid for months.In Gaza, people waited anxiously for the talks to produce results.Gunmen added sandbags and other reinforcements to their positions on streets and rooftops in Gaza City.Nampa-APThey were due to resume midmorning in a palace overlooking the Kaaba, Islam’s holiest site – a venue pointedly chosen by their Saudi hosts.The two sides’ leaders, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah and Khaled Mashaal of Hamas, began the summit Wednesday by pledging to work out a power-sharing agreement, seen as the only way to stop months of bloody street battles from erupting into full-blown civil war.Their agreement, and the way it addresses the existing peace accords with Israel, is also crucial to the relaunch of the peace process and to the ending of the West’s aid blockade, which has left thousands of Palestinian civil servants unpaid for months.In Gaza, people waited anxiously for the talks to produce results.Gunmen added sandbags and other reinforcements to their positions on streets and rooftops in Gaza City.Nampa-AP