GAZA CITY - Palestinian radical group Islamic Jihad was Tuesday attending for the first time a meeting of the PLO executive committee in another sign of moves by militants to join the political mainstream.
Islamic Jihad and its larger rival Hamas have long boycotted the Palestine Liberation Organisation, which groups the major secular factions, but have shown signs of easing their position since Mahmud Abbas replaced the late Yasser Arafat as Palestinian leader in January.
The meeting opened in Gaza City with Islamic Jihad in attendance although Hamas snubbed the invitation to the talks.
Speaking before the meeting, Mohammed al-Hindi, a Jihad leader, said the talks would focus on "rebuilding" the PLO.
The faction has made no formal decision to become part of the PLO, although Hamas announced Monday that it was ready to join.
"In this meeting, we will discuss mechanisms to rebuild the PLO and we will see whether we can agree. We will also discuss the PLO's political programme," Hindi said.
Both Islamic Jihad and Hamas, violently opposed to Israel, are wedded to the vision of an independent Palestine incorporating the modern-day Jewish state.
The PLO charter calls for the creation of a Palestinian state only in land conquered by Israel in the 1967 war.
However, Hamas did not turn up to Tuesday's meeting, saying further internal talks were needed before consultations with the PLO.
"Hamas will not participate in this meeting today," said spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri, adding that the group may however consult Abbas, who is also PLO chairman, on Tuesday or Wednesday.
"We have agreed to participate in the executive committee of the PLO but we need more internal discussions on the mechanism over what we agreed in the Cairo Declaration," Abu Zuhri said.
On Monday, Mahmud Zahar, a Hamas leader, said progress had been made at recent inter-Palestinian talks in Cairo on persistent disagreements over the PLO charter and the size of Hamas's representation in the council.
Hamas's readiness to participate in the PLO was a longstanding decision and did not mean it had renounced its commitment to a state incorporating all of historic Palestine, he added.
Fatah is the largest movement in the PLO, which represents Palestinians living in the occupied territories as well as the diaspora, and controls the Palestinian Authority which was created under the 1993 Oslo peace accords.
Abbas succeeded Arafat both as head of the PLO and president of the Palestinian Authority following his death in November.
Earlier this month, Hamas announced that it would join the Palestinian political mainstream and stand in July parliamentary elections after years voluntarily in the cold.
03/29/2005 11:08 GMT