hour gathering in Gaza included representatives of 13 factions as well as security chiefs and Palestinian lawmakers. Despite the differing tacks, Qureia said he was encouraged by the meeting. The groups would meet again to discuss a possible a cease-fire and "restoring law and order and security control," he said before returning to the West Bank. Meanwhile, Mohammed Dahlan, a Palestinian security chief who accompanied Arafat to France last week for medical treatment, was returning to the West Bank city of Ramallah on Sunday to brief the Palestinian leadership on Arafat's condition. Dahlan and Arafat's spokesman Nabil Abu Rdeneh had an extended meeting with Arafat's wife, Suha, and French doctors. Abu Rdeneh denied Arafat was in a coma, but said the veteran Palestinian leader "is under strict medical observance. We hope that in the coming few days we will be able to know exactly what he is suffering from. So far, nobody could diagnose the situation."
