Palestinians' Abbas, Meshaal to Meet in Qatar

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal will meet on Sunday in Qatar, Fatah party spokesman Azzam al-Ahmed told Agence France Presse on Friday.

Abbas and Meshaal "will discuss forming a government and political questions after the failure of talks" with Israel, Ahmed said.

A meeting bringing together all Palestinian leaders in Cairo originally set for February 2 had been delayed indefinitely, Ahmed added.

Sunday's talks will address "reconciliation measures" as well as the planned Cairo meeting, the spokesman said without providing further details.

The head of the Hamas government in Gaza and Meshaal rival, Ismail Haniya, is currently in Qatar on the first leg of a regional tour.

Meshaal has decided not to run again this summer for the leadership of Hamas amid signs of strain within the Islamist movement that rules the Gaza Strip.

Under the terms of a reconciliation deal signed by Hamas and Abbas's secular Fatah movement last April, parliamentary and presidential elections are to be held by May.

However, implementation of the deal has been delayed on several occasions despite repeated meetings between the parties involved.