Seven leftist Palestinian factions on Thursday called for starting a national dialogue immediately to end an internal political crisis and split.

A statement issued after the factions met in Gaza last night said the meeting was aimed at discussing the ways of ending the crisis and make the reconciliation between Islamic Hamas movement and President Mahmoud Abbas' secular Fatah movement.

To pave the way for the dialogue, the statement said that Fatah, which controls the West Bank, and Hamas, which controls Gaza, must stop inciting again each other on the media, stop politically- motivated arrests and stop attacks against civil societies that affiliated with Fatah in Gaza and these which are linked to Hamas in the West Bank.

Hamas took over Gaza last year by force after routing the regular pro-Abbas forces. The latter consolidated his power in the West Bank and Hamas tightened its grip on the coastal Strip, adding political split to the two territories beside the geographical separation.

The factions also called on Hamas to accept Abbas' call for dialogue which was based on a Yemeni initiative urging Hamas to cancel the changes it applied on the security services and the administrative system after it seized control of Gaza.

Hamas says the demands to end the new situation in Gaza should be discussed during the dialogue, not as a precondition before starting the talks.

(Xinhua News Agency August 21, 2008)