Khaled Mashaal, the Damascus-based leader of Hamas movement, is to visit Yemen next week for talks on Yemeni efforts at reconciliation between Hamas and the rival Fatah faction, Yemeni official sources told the Deutsche Presse Agentur dpa on Friday. The sources said Mashaal, whose movement has controlled the Gaza Strip since last June, would meet with Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh to discuss a Yemeni plan to bring Hamas leaders together with counterparts from Fatah. Saleh has offered to mediate between Hamas and Fatah, urging Hamas to end its control of the Gaza Strip which it gained by force after its forces routed forces loyal to the Fatah faction of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said the DPA.
