国际英语新闻:Morsi, Abbas discuss internal-Palestinian reconciliation

CAIRO, May 16 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi held Thursday a meeting here with his Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas to discuss means of enforcing internal-Palestinian reconciliation, state-run MENA news agency reported, citing a statement by Egypt's presidency.

The two leaders also discussed efforts to revive the stalled peace process between Israel and the Palestinians.

During the meeting, the two sides slammed the continuous Israeli violations against East Jerusalem, calling on the international community to bear the responsibility for ending what they refer to as "crimes against Islamic sanctuaries."

They also called for an immediate action to end the policy of settlement construction by the Israeli government and to lift the siege imposed on the Palestinians of Hamas-ruled Gaza.

As for the Syrian crisis, Morsi briefed Abbas on Egypt's efforts to reach a political solution to the Syrian conflict in order to put an end to the bloodshed in the war-torn country.

On Tuesday, the two Palestinian rival movements Fatah and Hamas reached an agreement in Cairo to form a national unity government within three months.