News Brief

(IsraelNN.com) Senior Palestinian Authority (PA) negotiator Saeb Erekat met with Iranian Foreign Minister Manoucher Moutaki last week in Egypt, according to a senior PA official quoted Sunday by Agence France Presse. The official said the two discussed internal PA politics and the need for successful negotiations between Fatah and Hamas.

The meeting is believed to be the first between senior officials of the PA and the Islamic Republic since the formation of the PA in 1994. A senior official close to PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas told Ynet that one of the purposes of the meeting was to make sure that Iran was using its influence with Hamas and Islamic Jihad to advance the reconciliation process.