Rival Palestinian groups Hamas and Fatah reached an "understanding" in Cairo on Wednesday to form a transitional unity government and hold elections, Egypt's official MENA news agency reported. The sides "reached a complete understanding after talks on all the points, including the formation of a transitional government with a specific mandate and setting a date for elections," it said.
Egypt will now call a meeting of all Palestinian factions to sign a reconciliation agreement in Cairo, it added. "There has been a comprehensive and final agreement," Azzam al-Ahmad, head of the Fatah delegation, told Egypt's state television
The agreement calls for presidential and legislative elections to be held within a year, Ahmad told AFP.
The factions met in Cairo with Egypt's new intelligence chief Murad Muwafi. The delegation of Hamas included senior members from the territory and its Damascus-based deputy leader, Mussa Abu Marzuk.
