Palestinians urge unity at Damascus meeting

DAMASCUS (Reuters) - Palestinian leaders opposed to peace talks with Israel sent a conciliatory message to Mahmoud Abbas at a conference hosted by Syria on Wednesday, but told the Palestinian president not to compromise on "national rights".

Hundreds of delegates from the Islamist Hamas and Islamic Jihad, leftists and other Palestinian figures attended the Damascus meeting.

"The goal is to solve the current state of Palestinian division through a comprehensive national dialogue that preserves unity," a communique issued by the conference said.

Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip in June after routing forces loyal to Abbas and his secular Fatah faction in fighting that killed dozens of Palestinians.

Abbas has demanded that Hamas relinquish its hold on the Gaza Strip and accept early presidential and parliamentary elections before resuming a dialogue with the Islamist group.

Hamas, whose leader Khaled Meshaal addressed the Damascus meeting, has rejected those terms.

The conference also urged Palestinian peace negotiators not to yield to Israeli pressure to compromise on the fate of Arab East Jerusalem and on the right of return for Palestinian refugees displaced in the 1948 war.

"No one has authorization to give up Jerusalem, the refugees' right of return or any of the historic rights," the conference declaration said. "Resistance against the Zionist occupation is the main form of struggle to achieve liberation."

Islamic Jihad leader Ramadan Shallah said splits between Hamas and Abbas's Fatah faction played into Israel's hands.

"We cannot talk about a strategy without achieving national reconciliation first. The struggle over power only relieves the Israelis of their responsibilities towards the people they occupy," Shallah told the delegates.

The conference had originally been scheduled for November, but was postponed after Syria decided to attend a U.S.-sponsored peace conference at Annapolis.

U.S. ties with Damascus have been strained because of Syria's support for Hamas and other Palestinian groups, its role in Lebanon and its policy towards Iraq.