GAZA CITY: A reconciliation deal between rival Palestinian groups Fatah and Hamas must be implemented in a "thorough and honest" way, members of Hamas's leadership said on Wednesday.

"We stress the need for thorough and honest implementation of the reconciliation agreements of Cairo and Doha to end the division and unify the national front," they said in a statement after meeting in Cairo.

Their statement came as Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal prepared to hold talks with Fatah head and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas on continuing efforts to implement a reconciliation deal the two groups signed in Cairo in May.

The long-time rivals have been struggling to implement the terms of the deal, which calls for the formation of an interim government of independents to pave the way for presidential and legislative elections within a year.

Representatives from both parties have met multiple times to try to hammer out a final line-up for the government and agree on who would head it.

A lengthy disagreement about the post of prime minister appeared to have been resolved in early February, when Abbas and Meshaal signed a deal in the Qatari capital Doha that put the president at the head of the interim government.

The line-up of the government was to have been announced shortly afterwards, but the Doha agreement was met with opposition from Gaza-based members of Hamas as well as some officials in the Fatah-controlled West Bank.

Meshaal is set to talk with Abbas on Wednesday in Cairo before both men participate in two rounds of meetings with the leadership of all the Palestinian factions, including Islamic Jihad, on Thursday and Friday.

It remains unclear when the final government line-up will be announced and elections held. AGENCIES