High-level representatives of rival Palestinian groups Fatah and Hamas met in Cairo on Tuesday night in preparation for the comprehensive inter-Palestinian dialogue to be held on Wednesday.

The meeting was presided by Fatah's senior negotiator Ahmed Qurei and Hamas' exiled politburo deputy chief Moussa Abu Marzouk, Egypt's official MENA news agency reported.

The meeting was also attended by Mahmoud al-Zahar, a senior Hamas official in Gaza and Fatah's Nemr Hammad, the Palestinian presidential political advisor, as well as Ahmed Abdel-Rahman, the group's spokesman, MENA said.

"The meeting would be open for discussing all issues," Nabil Shaath, a member of the Fatah Central Committee, was quoted as saying by the news agency.

Both delegations arrived in this Egyptian capital on Tuesday evening. Earlier in the day, Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hossam Zaki told the BBC Arabic satellite TV that the major Palestinian groups were taking the talks seriously.

"The main Palestinian factions should keep their responsibilities ... The Palestinians' interest lies in unity," Zaki said, adding that if the two groups undermine the Palestinian cause, the cost would be "unaffordable."

Egypt has been endeavoring to broker a reconciliation deal among Palestinian factions since Jan. 18 when the 22-day Gaza war ended. The last round of inter-Palestinian dialogue was thwarted by Hamas in November, because of the alleged crackdowns against its members in the Fatah-dominated West Bank.

A fresh round of comprehensive inter-Palestinian dialogue, which involves all the Palestinian factions, organizations and other powers, will be held here on Wednesday, MENA quoted an anonymous high-level Egyptian official as saying.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' security forces said on Tuesday they had freed eight Hamas members in the West Bank, in a goodwill gesture to defuse the hostility between the two movements.??

(Xinhua News Agency February 25, 2009)