Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal have postponed a meeting in the Syrian capital after failing to agree on posts for a unity government, a senior Hamas official said.
Efforts are under way to convene the meeting today. Disagreements persist on the manifesto and the proposed letter to form the government," Hamas politburo member Izzat al-Rishq said .
A power struggle between Hamas and Abbas's Fatah faction has led to violence in Gaza and the West Bank after talks on forming a unity government broke down late last year and Abbas called for fresh elections.
Earlier, Mr Rishq said the two politicians would discuss whom to appoint to the ministries of interior, finance and foreign affairs in a proposed unity government. Rishq had also said the meeting hoped to solve the issue of the final language of the manifesto and those in charge of the three ministries.
He had said talks between Abbas aides and Hamas officials in the past few days had reached an understanding that Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas would lead the next government. Haniyeh had said talks on a unity government were likely to resume within a few days.
Mr Abbas arrived in Damascus yesterday and met Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who has close ties with Meshaal and allows the Hamas exiled leadership to live in Syria.
Senior Palestinian official Saeb Erekat said Abbas told Assad the programme of the next Palestinian government must meet conditions set by the West for the lifting of sanctions that have harmed the Palestinian economy.
"We need a national unity government whose programme is able to attract international and regional support," Erekat said.
Speaking about the planned Meshaal-Abbas talks, Haniyeh had said: "We hope that the meeting will be successful. This is not a last-ditch effort, as some people would like to call it. There have been meetings before and there will be more meetings."
The Hamas government took office in March after a strong election win, prompting the West to impose sanctions designed to force Hamas to recognise Israel, renounce armed struggle and accept past accords.