HAMAS AND FATAH DUE TO SIGN RECONCILIATION AGREEMENT

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The leaders of the two main Palestinian factions, Fatah and Hamas, are due to sign a reconciliation pact in Cairo aimed at ending their four-year rift.

Mahmoud Abbas and Khaled Meshaal have not met since the expulsion of Fatah from Gaza in 2007 following the shock Hamas election victory a year earlier.

The agreement paves the way for a joint interim government ahead of national elections next year.

The recent Arab uprisings have given fresh momentum to reconciliation.

Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak had been wary of bolstering Hamas, but the new Cairo government has adopted a less hostile stance towards the Islamist group.

Correspondents say it is a first sign of how political changes in the Arab world could affect the dynamic of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The Fatah-led Palestinian Authority runs parts of the West Bank, while Hamas governs Gaza. Deep differences

UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East peace process, Robert Serry, is also in Cairo to attend the ceremony, along with Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil al-Arabi and Arab League chief, Amr Moussa.

Senior Fatah official Nabil Shaath, speaking shortly before the final ceremony, said other officials from both sides had already signed the document, adding: "Today is the crowning of this achievement."

The two rival Palestinian leaders carry with them the hopes of millions of Arabs for an end to the infighting that has so weakened the Palestinian cause, says the BBC's Jonathan Head in Cairo.

BBC