Hamas chief holds talks in Turkey

Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal held talks with Turkish officials on efforts to achieve Palestinian unity during a two-day visit to Istanbul ending later Wednesday, diplomats said. Meshaal's talks in Turkey's largest city coincided with a four-day trip to the capital Ankara by Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas, who heads Fatah, at a time when Palestinian officials have reported disagreements between the two groups over the formation of a unity government. Meshaal "arrived in Istanbul on Tuesday and held talks with our foreign minister (Ahmet Davutoglu) and ministry bureaucrats on the Palestinian question," a senior diplomat told AFP. "They discussed the issue of Palestinian unity and regional affairs," she said, adding that Meshaal was scheduled to leave later Wednesday. Another Turkish diplomat confirmed Meshaal's talks with Turkish officials, adding that, "no meeting is scheduled between him and Abbas." Abbas arrived in Ankara Tuesday afternoon. Turkish officials said he would have a "private programme" before talks on Thursday and Friday with President Abdullah Gul, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Davutoglu. Turkey has sought to mediate in efforts to reconcile Fatah and Hamas, braving Israel's ire over contacts with Meshaal's radical Islamist group. On Sunday, a Palestinian official cited Abbas' trip to Turkey among the reasons for the indefinite postponement of a meeting between the Palestinian leader and Meshaal, which had been scheduled for Tuesday in Cairo. The two were to have finalised the formation of a unity government. But other officials said later that disagreement over who should be the next Palestinian premier were holding up the creation of an interim government agreed last month between the old rivals. The Cairo meeting was postponed due to Hamas opposition to the reappointment of Western-backed economist Salam Fayyad, they said. Under the unity deal signed in May, Fatah and Hamas must agree on independent figures to make up a government that will lay the groundwork for legislative and presidential elections within a year. The two have been at odds since 2007 when Hamas took control of Gaza, routing Abbas loyalists. Gaza has been effectively cut off from the West Bank, which is under Fatah control, and the disunity of the Palestinians has prevented them from taking a common stance in peace talks with Israel. The Jewish state, which views Hamas as a terrorist organisation, has reacted angrily to previous contacts between Turkey and the group. But the Islamist-rooted government in Ankara insists that peace cannot be achieved if Hamas is excluded from the process. Erdogan has rejected the "terrorist" label for Hamas, defending the group as "resistance fighters who are struggling to defend their land." Once-flourishing Turkish-Israeli ties plunged into a deep crisis last year when Israeli forces killed nine Turks in a raid on a Turkish ferry, part of an activist flotilla carrying aid to Gaza.