Salah El-Bardawil, the spokesman of Hamas parliamentary bloc, said that the rival movements agreed to hold a meeting next week to discuss security arrangements in order to reach an inter-reconciliation agreement. The political unity was severed since Hamas routed pro-President Mahmoud Abbas forces and ousted Fatah in deadly fighting in Gaza in 2007.

El-Bardawil said that the two movements haven't yet agreed on the place where they will convene the meeting, however, added that Damascus is one of the options.

The reconciliation meeting was scheduled to be held in Damascus in Oct. 20. However, Fatah officials asked their Hamas rivals to move the place to another capital "due to arguments between Abbas and Syrian President Bashar Assad in Libya on Oct. 10."

Azzam Al-Ahmad, a member of Fatah Central Committee and the chief of its delegation to the reconciliation talks, told the Ramallah-based Al-Ayyam daily that the two rival factions had agreed to hold the meeting next week.

"We agreed to hold another meeting, but so far we haven't agreed yet on the place where the meeting will be held," Al-Ahmad said, adding "Fatah is keen to resolve the misunderstanding with the Syrian leadership."

The first meeting was held in Damascus at the end of September, where the two sides agreed on the issues of elections and the reforming of Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), but the file of security remained unresolved.

In October 2009, Egypt presented a draft of reconciliation to the Palestinian factions, mainly rivals Fatah and Hamas. Fatah accepted the reconciliation draft while Hamas refused to sign and said it had some reservations that should be reconsidered.