Abbas to meet Saudi king on Sunday

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas will visit Riyadh on Sunday for talks with Saudi King Abdullah to discuss “bilateral relations and issues of common concern,” the Saudi government announced.

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas will visit Riyadh on Sunday for talks with Saudi King Abdullah, the Saudi government announced.

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Abbas and Abdullah will discuss “bilateral relations and issues of common concern,” the official news agency SPA reported on Saturday.

Riyadh has taken a behind-the-scenes role in urging the feuding Palestinian factions -- Abbas’ Fatah movement and the Islamist group Hamas which controls the Gaza Strip -- to form a unity government to facilitate peace negotiations with Israel.

Egyptian mediators have proposed that Fatah and Hamas put the reconciliation talks on hold and instead set up a committee to coordinate their rival Palestinian administrations, a senior Palestinian official said on Tuesday.