Palestinian rivals land in Saudi for unity talks

MECCA, Saudi Arabia, Feb 6 (Reuters) Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and his Hamas rivals arrived in Saudi Arabia today for talks to end faction fighting which an envoy said had created a ''catastrophic'' situation.

Abbas' Fatah movement and Islamist group Hamas, which won a parliamentary election last year, have been locked in a battle for power that has spiralled into violence and killed about 80 people since December.

Previous efforts to stem the bloodshed and find common political ground have resulted in short-lived ceasefires and a threat by Abbas to call a new parliamentary election, a move Hamas has said would be tantamount to a coup.

''The difference (now) is that both sides have the will ... Both sides are coming without preconditions and without deadlines,'' Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said before the talks to be held in Mecca, Islam's holiest site.

Palestinian ambassador to Saudi Arabia Jamal al-Shobaki said a deal was crucial. ''They will not leave this holy place without an agreement, because things are catastrophic on the ground and the whole world will turn its back on us if we continue that way.'' Hamas sources said the group's Damascus-based leader Khaled Meshaal and the head of the Hamas-led government Ismail Haiyeh met with Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah after Meshaal arrived in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah.

King Abdullah, who called the reconciliation talks, met Abbas earlier voicing hope they would ''achieve the aspirations of the Palestinian people'', the Saudi Press Agency said.

''We urged our brothers in Saudi Arabia to intervene to bridge the gaps to conclude an agreement,'' said Nabil Amr, an Abbas' advisor, after the meeting. ''The alternative is more deterioration and early elections.'' Haniyeh also held talks with Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal and officials from the two factions said the three Palestinian leaders might meet with King Abdullah later in the evening ahead of the Mecca talks.

PILGRIMS' TALKS The Palestinian leaders are expected to seek inspiration by performing pilgrimage at the Grand Mosque in Mecca.

Western countries have blocked funding to Hamas until it recognises Israel and agrees to previous agreements with it signed by the Palestinian Authority, a self-rule body set up in 1993 on land occupied by Israel in 1967 and on which Palestinians hope to establish their own state.

Israel and the United States do not want Abbas to agree to a unity government that stops short of recognising the Jewish state, renouncing violence in the historic conflict between Israel and the Palestinians and abiding by interim peace deals.

Senior Abbas aide Azzam al-Ahmad said the talks would aim to persuade Hamas to accept the programme of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), which would involve an implicit Hamas recognition of Israel that could end the aid blockade.

''This won't contradict the requirements for lifting the siege ... I'm sure once Hamas honours PLO agreements the Quartet will not be asking Hamas to recognise Israel any more,'' he said, referring to a bloc of Middle East peace mediators made up of the United States, European Union, United Nations and Russia.

Haniyeh, speaking before leaving his base in the Gaza Strips for the talks, said his side would do all it could to reach an agreement over the formation of a unity government.

A key US ally, Saudi Arabia is keen to see an end to violence among the Palestinians, fearing that it is contributing to radicalism in the region and offering non-Arab Shi'ite Muslim power Iran a chance to increase its influence.

Iran has provided financial help to the Hamas-led government.

REUTERS PDM PM2344