Palestinian negotiators sent mixed signals on their expectations as a sixth round of talks aimed at establishing a "national unity" government opened in Cairo on Sunday, dpa reported Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah faction, which controls Palestinian-administered areas of the West Bank, held unofficial consultations on Sunday afternoon, negotiators said. The official talks will resume when Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, who is brokering the talks, returned from Saudi Arabia, where he was accompanying Egyptian President Hosny Mubarak on a state visit, they added. Egyptian mediators have imposed a July 7 deadline on the Palestinian factions to sign an agreement either to form a national unity government or to agree to an Egyptian compromise that would see a joint committee coordinate between the Hamas and Fatah governments. A total of five previous rounds of talks have faltered over the details of the conduct of elections, control of Palestinian security forces, and each group's arrest of members of the other. "We are optimistic that a deal will be signed on July 7 following the series of talks and meetings held between Egyptians and Palestinian factions' leaders in Cairo," said Yasser al-Wadiya, who is representing independent Palestinian figures in the talks. "All efforts are now focused on the formation of a national unity government that would be able to unify the institutions of the Palestinian Authority, prepare for elections and commence the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip," he said.
