Abbas says open to mediation over Hamas: TV

Dubai, July 31: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said in remarks aired today he would welcome any push for rapprochement with Islamist group Hamas if it relinquishes control over the Gaza Strip.

''Any side that wants to play a role is welcome be it our Russian friends or Arab brothers,'' Abbas told al Arabiya television in an interview in Moscow during a visit.

''But, we say if we were to start a dialogue with Hamas for fence-mending they have to end all of the causes and outcome of the coup measures which they took against the legitimate authority,'' he said.

The context of his remarks was not clear from the excerpts broadcast by Arabiya.

On June 14 Hamas militias routed Gaza forces loyal to the Western-backed, secular Fatah faction of Abbas, who later dismissed the Hamas-led cabinet and formed a new government in the West Bank.

Reuters>