Mahmoud Abbas, secretary general of the Executive Committee of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, arrived in Cairo Tuesday to attend an Egypt-brokered dialogue among various Palestinian factions.
Abbas, better known as Abu Mazen, will lead a delegation of the Palestinian mainstream Fatah movement to the gathering on Wednesday.
Representatives from the Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas, the Islamic Jihad (Holy War), the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine andthe ex-communist Palestine People's Party are also invited to attend the meeting.
Yet the meeting has been overshadowed by earlier remarks by Hamas and the Islamic Jihad that they would quit the dialogue if some other Palestinian groups are excluded from the summit.
Jihad has claimed that it would participate in the dialogue in case that all 13 Palestinian groups and factions would be in Cairo.
The gathering is expected to reach an agreement on halting suicide bombing attacks against Israel, reaching a ceasefire with Israel and reviving the peace process.
(Xinhua News Agency January 22, 2003)
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