RAMALLAH, Sept. 13 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Wednesday that a Palestinian delegation will travel to Cairo soon to "clarify" the ideas put forward to end the internal Palestinian split and achieve a Palestinian unity.
"The delegation will focus on how to achieve reconciliation through the ideas we put forward," Abbas told a meeting of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).
On Tuesday Abbas chaired a meeting of his Fatah Party's Central Committee, and on Wednesday he chaired a meeting of the PLO Executive Committee to discuss the internal Palestinian reconciliation with rival Hamas movement.
Since Saturday, a high-ranking Hamas delegation, headed by the movement's politburo chief Ismail Haneya and other senior leaders, has been discussing internal reconciliation with Egypt.
Abbas added that the idea "is to dissolve the administrative committee formed by Hamas (in Gaza) and enable the consensus government to carry out its duties freely in the Gaza Strip and prepare for the presidential and legislative elections."
He also said PLO meeting is taking place before heading to the United Nations and holding meetings in Cairo with Hamas, during which some ideas were presented regarding a national reconciliation.
A Fatah delegation led by Azzam al-Ahmad, including members of the movement's central committee Hussein al-Sheikh and Rawhi Fattouh, is scheduled to arrive in Cairo next Friday, a Palestinian source told Xinhua.
"We will not have any meetings or discussions with the Hamas delegation in Cairo," al-Ahmad told the official Voice of Palestine radio station earlier Wednesday.
On Monday, Hamas said in a statement following a meeting of its delegation held in Cairo with Egyptian intelligence chief Khalid Fawzi, that it is ready to hold immediate dialogue with Fatah in Cairo to conclude a reconciliation agreement and determine the mechanisms of implementing it.
According to the statement, "the delegation confirmed Hamas' readiness to dissolve the administrative committee (in the Gaza Strip) immediately and enable the consensus government to exercise its functions in Gaza and hold the elections.
It said that before holding the general elections, an expanded conference for the Palestinian factions must be held in Cairo with the aim of forming a unity government for Gaza, the West Bank and east Jerusalem."
Hamas had several months ago formed a "high committee" for ruling the Gaza Strip, and announced that it will continue to work as long as the internal division (Palestinian) exists.
Hamas said it will dissolve the committee when the consensus government takes over in the Gaza Strip.
In response, since April, President Abbas has taken "punitive steps" against Gaza by reducing the salaries of PA employees in the Gaza Strip and sending 7,000 of them to early retirement, and also reducing the funding of basic services for the sector.
