Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met in Damascus Sunday to discuss the prospects of reconciliation talks with the Hamas militant movement, according to DPA. Palestinian sources told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa that Assad might seek to bring Abbas, Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal and leaders of other Palestinian factions together in a meeting that the Syrian leader himself would attend. Speaking to reporters after the talks, Abbas' aide, Nabil Abu- Rudeina, declined to say whether Abbas might meet Mashaal during his two-day visit to Syria. Damascus provides asylum to Mashaal whose group ousted Abbas' supporters from the rival Fatah faction from the Gaza Strip after internecine clashes in June last year.
