Hamas and PFLP plan meeting to reform PLO

A pan-Palestinian meeting to discuss reforming the Palestine Liberation Organization will take place in Syria next week, officials of Hamas and another group said Wednesday. The meeting will include representatives of the largest PLO group, Fatah - led by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, as well as Hamas, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and other factions, according to the deputy head of Hamas' political bureau, Moussa Abu Marzouk, and PFLP executive Maher Taher. Fatah is expected to be represented by former Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei, who is close to Abbas, and Farouk Kaddoumi, who has long run the PLO's political department. Fatah officials in Gaza were meeting late Wednesday and could not be reached for comment. The aim of the meeting, which is scheduled to begin Monday, would be to "reconstruct the Palestine Liberation Organization, because it has been paralyzed for a long period," said Taher.