Source: PIC, 13-02-2009

CAIRO - A Hamas delegation lead by Dr. Moussa Abu Marzouq met Thursday evening with a Fatah delegation lead by Ahmad Qurai and mutually agreed to stop media campaigns against one another.
Both parties stressed in the joint statement after the meeting that both parties are serious about ending the state of division and to furnish the right atmosphere for inter-Palestinian dialogue.

Both parties also agreed to approve mechanisms for ending political arrests and closure of civil institutions to provide the right atmosphere for successful talks to be held in Cairo on 22nd February.
The joint statement also said that the meetings and the talks to follow aim to satisfy popular demands for unity to face aggression of the occupier and the realize the inalienable Palestinian rights.

The statement also said that the issue of the Egyptian sponsored truce was also discussed in the meeting.
Well informed Palestinian sources said that Egypt has handed the various Palestinian factions a paper outlining the basic principles of the talks to be held in Cairo.

The paper proposes the formation of a national unity government which will guarantee the lifting of the siege and would hold both presidential and legislative elections at an agreed time.

The paper also proposed the rebuilding of the Palestinian security forces on a professional rather than factional basis and the reformation of the PLO based on the Cairo agreement (March 2005) and the National Reconciliation Agreement (May 2006).
The paper also said that six committees have been formed to tackle the various issues in Cairo.