CAIRO (Update1) - Egyptian and Palestinian points of view are identical over means to push forward the stalled Middle East peace process with Israel and the Palestinian reconciliation, a Palestinian official said in Cairo Thursday after President Mahmoud Abbas emerged form his first meeting with Egypt's military rulers. "Egyptian-Palestinian views on al issues discussed were identical. This indicated that Egypt will continue to play its pivotal role in the region through supporting the Palestinian people," said el-Tayyeb Abdel Rehim, the Palestinian Presidency Secretary General. He added that Egyptian officials had also fully backed an initiative by Abbas to visit Gaza in order to end the Fatah-Hamas rift that has been in place since 2007. Abbas had held talks earlier in the day with Field Marsha Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, the head of the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, Prime Minister Essam Sharaf and Foreign Minister Nabil el-Araby. Hamas-affiliated website the Palestine Information Center said Thursday that Abbas' trip came as Egypt set to invite Hamas leaders to Cairo, including its leader in exile Khalid Mashaal. On Wednesday, Amr Moussa, the Secretary General of the Arab League, said he was ready to accompany Abbas to a Gaza trip to end the Palestinian rift. "The talks focused also on means to revive the peace process with Israel in light of the current disturbances in the region," Abdel Rehim was quoted by Egypt's official Middle East News Agency (MENA) as saying. Egypt already hosted six-month talks between Palestinian political leaderships in 2009, leading to a draft pact to form a unitity government. Fatah signed the pact, but Hamas refrained, demanding international recognition. So far, Hamas has refused to recognise Israel, but leading figure Ismail Haniyeh has recently called for a suspension of Palestinian attacks against them.
