Abbas briefs Rice on withdrawal from Gaza developments

A spokesman for the Palestinian Presidency said that the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas made on Wednesday evening a phone call with US secretary of state Condaleezza Rice during which he briefed her on the latest developments and Palestinian preparations for the Israeli withdrawal from occupied Gaza.

Nabil Abu Rudinah stressed that Abbas called on Rice to pressure Israel to get out of the Rafah crossing, on the border with Egypt, in a manner that such a withdrawal will be looked at as a positive step "to build on, in the future."

On the other hand, Abbas on Wednesday met with the delegation of the Islamic resistance movement leadership, Hamas, in which they agreed to form joint committees from the Palestinian national liberation movement, Fatah, and Hamas, including the follow up committee to supervise this withdrawal.

The meeting which is considered the first official meeting between the two sides after the confrontations which took place by the beginning of July between Hamas and Fatah dealt with the municipal and legislative elections affairs and the national committee for consultations and coordination, the PLO and the Cairo agreement.