'Progress' in Middle East coalition talks

Significant progress has been made in the Middle East during secret coalition talks between the supreme Hamas leader and aides of moderate Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, officials from both sides said today.

Moussa Abu Marzouk, deputy head of Hamas’ political bureau in Damascus, confirmed the secret talks and said Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal would meet with Mr Abbas early next week in the Syrian capital. An Abbas aide said the meeting would take place on Monday.

The move is seen as indicating a sudden shift in atmosphere after several weeks of deadly internal fighting.

The secret coalition talks started in Syria two weeks ago between top Mr Mashaal and two Abbas envoys, officials from both sides said.

In another unexpected show of unity, the civil servants’ union dominated by Abbas’ Fatah movement announced today that it is ending a strike it had launched four months ago, to protest non-payment of salaries by the Hamas-led government.

And in Gaza, prime minister Ismail Haniyeh called on his Hamas movement and on Fatah to halt their increasingly violent power struggle that claimed 35 lives in recent weeks.

“Enough, I say enough,” he said in a televised speech.