Abbas 'open to national dialogue to end feuds'

Damascus: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met with the leader of the Islamic Jihad group in Syria on Monday, in the latest incremental step to reconcile the divided Palestinian factions.

Talks with archrival Hamas, however, still appear to be far off.

Jihad leader Ramadan Abdullah Shallah told reporters after the meeting that Abbas was open to a national dialogue to end the bitter feud between the two main Palestinian factions, but "lots of measures and contacts should be done in order for this dialogue to start", he said.

Shallah, a close Hamas ally, did not, however, carry any message from the group and on the second day of Abbas' visit to Syria to address the Palestinian infighting, it is looking more unlikely that he will meet Hamas officials.

The deep rift between Hamas and Abbas' Fatah goes back to June 2007 after fighters loyal to Hamas forcibly seized control of Gaza.

Abbas branded the Hamas takeover as a "coup" and sacked the Hamas-led unity government. Since then, Abbas has resumed peace talks with Israel.

Armed struggle

Hamas and the Islamic Jihad reject any peace making with Israel and say that armed struggle is the only way to end the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Syria, which hosts several Palestinian opposition factions, has said it will support any reconciliation efforts. Syrian President Bashar Assad met Abbas on Sunday and Khalid Mesha'al three days earlier in an attempt to help them out of their crisis.

Over the past year there have been several efforts to solve disagreements between the two rivals, but to no avail.