CAIRO, June 14, 2011 (WAFA) – President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas leader Khaled Mishal will join the Fatah-Hamas talks next Tuesday in Cairo to resolve the last hitch on the formation of government, Tuesday said Azzam al-Ahmad, head of the Fatah delegation to the talks.

He told a press conference in Cairo, where a new round of talks was held, that since the two sides were not able to reach a consensus on the prime minister, they called Abbas and Mishal who agreed to attend the meeting next Tuesday to resolve this issue.

Asked if current Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, who was Fatah’s choice to head the new unity government, was ruled out because of Hamas objections, Ahmad said that “I do not want to talk about anyone ruled out. We agreed that there will be consensus on this matter, but so far there is not.”

He said that they decided that the participation of Abbas and Mishal will be necessary to speed up the talks and to cut down on time.

“This is good for the talks. Their participation will cut down on time. We will not have to end the talks to return for consultations. We are in a hurry. Next Tuesday meeting should be final and decisive,” he said.

“An agreement is within reach and we do not want to say more on this,” he said.

Ahmad described the meeting they had with Hamas as positive and that the two sides reached an agreement on the issue of prisoners held by the two sides. He said this file has been completed to the satisfaction of everyone and closed.

M.A.