Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, prime minister of the Palestinian government dismissed by President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah, called for renewed talks on Saturday between the factions, Haniyeh's office said.
Abbas has ruled out any dialogue with Hamas, whom he accused of trying to assassinate him and of launching a coup in the Gaza Strip.
"The way out of the current situation is launching a Palestinian dialogue without pre-conditions," Haniyeh told the Yemeni president by phone, according to Reuters. Haniyeh noted these talks should be held "on the basis of no loser and no winner, and on the basis of no harm to anyone, and on the basis of a national unity government," according to Haniyeh's office.
On Friday, Hamas spokesman Salah Bardawil denounced the summit planned for Monday between Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Abbas, saying Abbas would not be able to wipe out Hamas' sovereignty. "Hamas will not back down in its efforts to establish a Palestinian state in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip on the 1967 borders ... with Jerusalem as its capital," Bardawil said.
