Palestinian rivals hold crisis talks in Mecca

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas began crisis talks with his Hamas rivals in Saudi Arabia yesterday, vowing to hammer out a deal on a unity government that could end an international blockade.

"We want to create a unity government and that is everyone's demand. We want a government that can end the blockade," Mr Abbas said in live television footage of the meeting overlooking the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Islam's holiest site.

"Recent days have been very black and may God not allow them to return. It has been a catastrophe that must not be repeated. We don't want blood spilt."

Mr Abbas's Fatah movement and Islamist group Hamas, which won a parliamentary election last year, have been locked in a power struggle that has killed more than 90 people since December.

Western countries have blocked funding to Hamas until it recognises Israel and agrees to previous agreements with Israel signed by the Palestinian Authority.

Adding urgency to the Palestinian talks, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Tuesday he would meet Mr Abbas and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on February 19, in a "significant" bid to restart long-stalled peace talks.

But with Israel and its ally the United States opposing a unity government unless Hamas meets Western demands to recognise Israel and renounce violence, that meeting could be in jeopardy.

Incentives for Mr Abbas to drive a hard bargain include Israel's decision to release $100 million in Palestinian tax revenues and Washington's effort to bolster the Palestinian President by training and equipping his security forces.

Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal said he had come to the table determined to reach a deal that would end Palestinian divisions, though he made no specific mention of the unity government.

"We will not leave this place without agreement, God willing," Mr Meshaal said, speaking after Mr Abbas. "If it finds us unified, the international community will have to respect our wishes and lift the unjust blockade."

Saudi media have said there will be no Saudi interference in the talks, but the key US ally and traditional funder of the Palestinian Authority has tried to pressure Hamas over the past year, Western diplomats in Riyadh say.

King Abdullah, who called the reconciliation talks, urged the Palestinian leaders on Tuesday to "respond to the voice of reason" and avoid a civil war that would put decades of gains in the struggle with Israel at risk, Saudi media said.

Officials said at the start of the meeting that the first subject on the agenda would be the formation of a Palestinian Cabinet.