Iran backs Yemen's Palestinian bid

IRI Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki has voiced support for Yemen's efforts to reconcile Palestinian factions, Hamas and Fatah.

"We back Yemen's efforts to reconcile Palestinian factions like Hamas and Fatah," AFP quoted Mottaki as saying after talks in Sana'a with Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Mottaki arrived in Sana'a at the head of a high-ranking delegation on Thursday.

Yemen has "played an important and serious role to achieve unity among Palestinian factions. The Islamic Republic backs this drive," Mottaki told reporters after talks with his Yemeni counterpart Abu Bakr al-Kurbi.

The Fatah party and the Hamas movement signed an agreement in Yemen last month to hold their first direct talks since Hamas drove Fatah forces from the Gaza Strip in June.