CAIRO: Egypt is renewing efforts to end the rift between Palestinian factions and restart the stalled Mideast peace talks.

A reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah is crucial to moving the stalled process forward.

The state MENA news agency says Egypt’s intelligence chief Omar Suleiman is holding talks in Cairo with a top Hamas delegation, headed by the group’s Damascus-based leader, Khaled Mashaal.

Suleiman on Sunday made a similar bid to members of a Fatah delegation.

Egypt is trying to get the two sides to agree on a power sharing deal and end a nearly two-year split that occurred after the militant Hamas seized control of Gaza in June 2007, leaving Fatah with authority over the West Bank. -AP