Palestinians Try to Stave Off Civil War

Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh from Hamas is seen during a cabinet meeting in Gaza City, Monday Feb. 5, 2007. (AP Photo/Hatem Moussa) (Hatem Moussa - AP)

It has done so in part because it fears that Shiite-Sunni tensions fueled by the turmoil in Iraq and Lebanon could explode, destabilizing the region _ and threatening the kingdom itself, which is mainly Sunni but has a significant Shiite minority.

Saudi Arabia also aims to stem the influence of mainly Shiite, Persian Iran, its longtime rival, which has a hand in all three crises. Iran has funneled millions of dollars to Hamas, giving it an unprecedented influence in the Israeli-Arab conflict. As a sign of its concern, Saudi Arabia has even opened contacts with Iran to cooperate in easing tensions in Iraq and Lebanon.

At the same time, Saudi Arabia sees reviving the Israeli-Arab peace process as vital to calming the crises across the Mideast.

King Abdullah underlined the need for a deal as he met with Abbas and Mashaal separately in Mecca.

"What's going on in the land of Palestine serves only the enemies of the Islamic nation," he told Abbas, according to the Saudi News Agency. "If it continues, it will rob the Palestinians of the fruits of their long struggle."

Speaking to Mashaal and Haniyeh, Abdullah warned: "If the dispute between Palestinian brothers goes on, it will bleed away their energy and end all that they have struggled to achieve."

Abdullah also received a message from President Bush ahead of the talks, delivered by Homeland Security and Counterterrorism adviser Frances Townsend, the news agency reported, without giving details.

State-guided Saudi newspapers urged the Palestinians to reconcile and observe the truce that took hold Sunday. "If the Palestinians cannot reach radical solutions at the Mecca meeting, then I believe we have to wait 50 more years for them to, perhaps, get over the (power) complex," commentator Hani Wafa wrote in a column titled "The Last Chance" in Al-Riyadh newspaper.

The Palestinians have been struggling for months over a power-sharing deal, and street battles between gunmen of the two parties have erupted with increasing frequency in Gaza. The differences focused on the program of the proposed coalition and who would control the security forces. In recent months, Egypt, Syria and Qatar have all tried and failed to end the power struggle.

Moussa Abu Marzouk, deputy of Hamas leader Mashaal, was cautious as he and Mashaal left Damascus for the talks. "The disagreements ... have become narrower," Marzouk told The Associated Press, "but we don't know whether an agreement will be reached or not."

Ostensibly, the gaps are small _ in the case of the program only a single word. Abbas, a moderate who was elected separately in 2005, has insisted Hamas promise to "commit" to previous agreements, including interim peace deals with Israel. Hamas is only willing to say it "respects" such agreements.

____

AP writer Sarah El Deeb in Gaza and Albert Aji in Damascus contributed to this report.