Abbas meets Haniyeh's son in Doha

Fatah leader President Mahmoud Abbas met with the son of the Hamas Prime Minister in Gaza on Friday evening in Qatar, a day after Abbas met the premier for the first time in four years. Their parties signed a reconciliation deal in May 2011, but progress has stumbled as the factions continue to spar over its key terms. Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh's eldest son, Abdul Samal, met Abbas in Doha on Friday and said he hoped the Fatah leader would visit the Gaza Strip, as well as Hamas' chief-in-exile Khalid Mashaal. Abdul Samal Haniyeh briefed Abbas on the lack of sports facilities and resources in the Gaza Strip, and stressed that sport could play a major role in ending the strip's division from the West Bank. During the meeting, Abbas gave instructions for the Palestinian Economic Council for Development to allocate financial support for sports infrastructure in the Gaza Strip. Abbas and Haniyeh were accompanied by the Palestinian ambassador to Qatar Muneer Ghannam and senior Fatah officials Muhammad Ishtayya and Saeb Erekat. Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and Abbas met in the Egyptian capital on Thursday evening for the first time since fighting that erupted between the parties split the governments in Gaza and the West Bank.