Saudi King Urges Palestinians to Talk

Palestinians carry the body of Hamas militant Ahmed Saleh, who was killed in clashes with Fatah gunmen in the Jebaliya refugee camp, northern Gaza Strip, Saturday, Jan. 27, 2007. Gunmen loyal to the ruling Hamas government attacked the house of a local Fatah leader Friday exchanging heavy fire, Palestinian sources said. At least 18 Palestinians have been killed and dozens wounded in factional fighting between the groups in the Gaza Strip since Thursday. (AP Photo/Hatem Moussa) (Hatem Moussa - AP)

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip -- Saudi Arabia's king urged Palestinian rival factions Sunday to hold talks in the holy city of Mecca as fighting between the Hamas and Fatah movements persisted in Gaza with no clear winner emerging.

Hamas and Fatah gunmen battled each other across Gaza early Monday. Two Hamas fighters were killed overnight in the fighting as attacks were mounted on security compounds. An electrical transformer was knocked out by gunmen, plunging large parts of Gaza City into darkness.

Some of the most intense fighting took place outside the Gaza City headquarters of the Preventive Security Service, which a decade ago had led a crackdown on Hamas and is fiercely loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah. Hamas gunmen fired dozens of mortar shells at the compound, drawing return fire through the night.

Information Minister Youssef Rizka of Hamas warned the two sides were close to civil war and called Abbas to order his forces back to their bases.

The bitter rivals have been buying, smuggling and building weapons for months trying to gain an edge, but they have held back from all-out battle and find themselves in a stalemate.

That leaves many Palestinians with grim hopes that a power-sharing deal still can be worked out between the Islamic militants of Hamas and the more moderate Abbas of Fatah.

Saudi King Abdullah called the factional fighting a "shame" that has undermined the Palestinian cause and urged both sides to join talks mediated by his country, Saudi Arabia's official news agency reported.

"I urge them to hold an emergency meeting in Mecca to discuss the contentious matters without any intervention from outside," Abdullah told the Saudi Press Agency.

"Our hearts bleed for what is happening in the land of our Palestinian brothers," he said. "This great atrocity with all its unjustified and weak reasons has stained the Palestinian's honorable national struggle."

Both sides welcomed the Saudi king's offer but did not say when talks might be held. Ghazi Hamad, spokesman for the Hamas-led government, said the Islamic group was in talks with Egyptian mediators.

Bursts of violence have alternated with periods of tense calm since the factional fighting erupted in December following the collapse of Hamas-Fatah coalition talks and Abbas' threat to call early elections.

Clashes involving mortars, grenades, bombs and assault rifles have erupted spontaneously, without clear objectives or central command, raged for a few hours, then suddenly fizzled.