President Ali Abdullah Saleh received last Saturday the Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyadh, currently visiting the country for revitalizing the Yemeni initiative for reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas.

Fayyadh briefed President Saleh about the efforts being exerted for resuming dialogue and achieving reconciliation among the Palestinian movements.

He also stressed the importance of the Yemeni initiative for reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas movement, especially amid the recent developments in Gaza Strip.

Moreover, the Palestinian leader expressed the Palestinian leadership and people's appreciation of Saleh's constant endeavor and work for to end the Palestinian conflict between Fatah and Hamas.

In his turn, Yemeni Prime Minister Ali Mujawar met in the same day his Palestinian counterpart Salam Fayyadh and both officials discussed the bilateral relations as well as the recent developments in Gaza.

They also discussed the situation in Palestinian territories under the present Israeli policies of siege and growing settlement activities in Jerusalem and Palestinian areas.

Concerning the situation in Palestine, Mujawer expressed his regret over the renewal of conflict between Fatah and Hamas, hinting this serves none but the Zionist enemy. 

For his part, Fayyadh pointed out the difficult situation Palestinians lead in Gaza and West Bank. "The Palestinian Authority is seeking, through negations, to realize the Palestinian project for ending Israeli occupation and establishing the independent state on all territories occupied in 1967," Fayyad said.

He also demanded the international community and Arab countries to exercise more pressure on Israel to abide by peace agreements and to give up building settlements

The Palestinian delegation's visit seeks to revitalize the Yemeni efforts for reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas. "Yemen has played a vital role for crystallizing its initiative that has met Arab consensus after approval in Damascus Summit," Fayyadh noted.

Yemeni authorities presented a seven-point proposal earlier this year aiming to ease the current tension between Fatah and Hamas as well as initiating a direct dialogue between both movements to resolve the existing crisis.

The initiative included asking Hamas to retract its coup in Gaza Strip and to have things as they were before Hamas took over the Strip on June 13, 2007.