Egypt will host initial consultations with Fatah and Hamas officials to relaunch national reconciliation talks that have been suspended since February, a Fatah official said Thursday.

Yahya Rabah told Ma’an that the key issue is implementation, not more talks, but a ministerial committee of Arab states will nonetheless meet soon to discuss the stalled unity deal.

“We made the needed consultations, and reconciliation now needs to be implemented. We are going forward toward with one temporary national unity government of independent figures, and headed by President Mahmoud Abbas,” Rabah said.

“Reconciliation is at a very important political stage,” he added.

In Doha, Hamas leader Khalid Mashaal said he welcomed the initiative to bring the two factions together in Cairo.

“God willing, I and Abu Mazan will succeed in achieving national unity. I can see how close it is,” Mashaal said in an interview on the sidelines of an Arab summit.

On Tuesday Egyptian President Mohammed Mursi, speaking at the summit, said Palestinian reconciliation was essential in uniting Palestinians.

The president stressed that the Palestinian cause will not more forward “without reaching a resolution and freeing the land that remains under occupation”.

Mursi stressed the importance of achieving reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas to unite Palestinians in the face of “illegal settlements, and changing the identity of Jerusalem” which threatens the possibility of a Palestinian state.

(Ma’an – Maannews.net)