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SANAA-Rival Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas signed a Yemeni-sponsored deal on Sunday promising to revive direct talks after months of hostilities, but differences remained over the future of the Gaza Strip and West Bank.The office of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who is also Fatah leader, said Hamas must accept to end its control of the Gaza Strip before any dialogue could take place."We, the representatives of Fatah and Hamas, agree to the Yemeni initiative as a framework to resume dialogue between the two movements to return the Palestinian situation to what it was before the Gaza incidents," a declaration issued by the two delegations after talks in Sanaa said.The Sanaa Declaration, signed by Hamas negotiator Moussa Abu Marzouk and Fatah official Azzam al-Ahmed, also affirmed the "unity of the Palestinian people, territory and authority".The Yemeni initiative calls for the situation in Gaza to return to the way it was before Hamas seized the territory in June after routing forces loyal to Abbas.The violence left Hamas in control of Gaza and Fatah in control of the West Bank and entrenched divisions as the two movements vied for power and influence among the 4 million Palestinians in the two areas separated by Israel."We regard the signing today of the Sanaa Declaration as a new beginning and the start of a new stage," said Abu Marzouk, whose party won parliamentary elections in January 2006.As in the days of Noah...
