RAMALLAH: A South African diplomatic mission on Thursday met with representatives of Palestinian factions and independents in bid to restore the internal unity in Palestinian territories.

Nabil Shaath, a member of Fatah Central Committee, said South Africa's representative to the Palestinian Authority, Ted Pekane, and Alexander Boraine, a special envoy for these talks, met the Palestinian representatives.

Shaath said that the Palestinian side comprised of comprised of himself along with Azzam Al-Ahmed and Najat Abu Baker from Fatah, Mustafa Al-Barghouthi, secretary-general of the Palestinian National Initiative, Qais Abdulkarim of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Monib Al-Masri, the head of the Palestine forum and a prominent Palestinian businessman and other independents.

He added that the meeting aimed at learning from the South African experience in ending the internal strife and the apartheid, on the assumption that internal Palestinian unity is necessary to successfully fight the Israeli occupation.

Boraine, who served as deputy to Archbishop Desmond Tutu when the latter chaired South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, expressed his readiness to extend all possibilities to achieve national unity and to end the internal Palestinian strife.

Palestinian sources said Boraine had been scheduled to travel to Gaza for meetings with Hamas figures there, but the sources said Israel would not let him enter the Strip.

On Wednesday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said he will send two aides to the Gaza Strip as part of renewed efforts to achieve national reconciliation.

The mission comprises two Gaza natives, Rawhi Fattouh and Abdullah Al-Efrangi, who are also senior leaders in Abbas' Fatah party, Abbas' office said in a statement. The officials will arrive in Gaza next week to meet with different factions, including Hamas, said the statement, adding Abbas wants to see an end to the political rift following Hamas' takeover of Gaza in 2007.

Egypt has stopped mediating between Hamas and Fatah after the Islamic movement rejected signing a proposal Cairo drafted last October.

Hamas and Fatah leaders were supposed to meet Wednesday in Damascus, but Fatah insisted changing the site due to "Syria's position against the Palestinian Authority."

Shaath said Syrian President Bashar Assad reprimanded Abbas during the Arab summit in Libya and demanded that he halt peace talks with Israel. In addition, the Syrian president reportedly accused Abbas and the Arab League foreign ministers of succumbing to US and Israeli pressure.

"The Syrians offended us," Shaath explained. "We can't send our representatives to Damascus in light of what happened in Libya."

"We are ready to go anywhere in the world to meet Hamas except for Syria. We have proposed Beirut, Istanbul and Sana'a as possible venues. I personally prefer Yemen because of its government's positive attitude toward reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah."

Shaath denied that the PA leadership was facing pressure from both Israel and the US not to strike a deal with Hamas. "Let Hamas choose any place it wants and we will go there, even if it’s in Zimbabwe," he contended.

Hamas legislator Salah Al-Bardaweel said Fatah rejected a proposal to hold a meeting in the Gaza Strip "after being threatened by the Americans."

He expressed his party’s readiness to meet with Fatah representatives in any other location.

He also pointed out that the Egyptians refused to host the two rival Palestinian factions for another round of reconciliation talks.

"The Egyptians told Hamas and Fatah to go and talk somewhere else, and to come to Cairo only when they are ready to sign an agreement," claimed Bardaweel.

By MOHAMMED MAR'I