Abbas, the head of Fatah, sat down with general-secretary of Islamic Jihad, Ramadan Shalah and his deputy, Ziad al-Nkhaleh and discussed implementation of the stalled unity deals, official PA news agency Wafa said.

They also discussed Friday's PLO reform meeting, according to Wafa.

This week, a Jihad official said the group might run in elections for the PLO's parliament, the Palestinian National Council.

The PNC is the legislative body of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, which represents Palestinians in exile as well as those in the West Bank and Gaza.

The parliament is presently mainly composed of appointees, and has so far excluded Hamas and Islamic Jihad, which were formed since the PLO's establishment in 1964.

The reconciliation deal between Hamas and Fatah included an agreement to reform the PLO, which has been criticized for failing to represent the whole Palestinian polity.