RIYADH, (PIC)-- Khaled Mishaal, the supreme leader of the Hamas Movement, arrived in Saudi Arabia on Sunday evening in response to an official invitation for talks with Saudi officials on means of patching up inter-Palestinian differences.

Mohammed Nazzal, political bureau member of the Movement, said that the visit of Hamas's delegation to the Saudi capital fell in line with Saudi efforts to conciliate the Fatah and Hamas Movements.

He said that the ball was now in the PA chief Mahmoud Abbas's court after his repeated refusal to open dialogue with Hamas.

Nazzal expressed regret that Abbas had turned down the Egyptian initiative for hosting Hamas-Fatah dialogue in Cairo, ruling out any breakthrough in this issue in the foreseeable future.

He held Abbas responsible for such delay, charging him with depending on American and Zionist backing in rejecting the Egyptian initiative.

The Hamas official said that the only possible dialogue would be over the re-opening and the administration of the Rafah terminal.

Meanwhile, Mishaal in a statement on Sunday mourned the death of George Habash the founder of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

He described Habash as "great leader" who posed as a symbol of national struggle against colonialism. He said that the death of Habash was a great loss for the Palestinian people and its cause.