NEGOTIATIONS ONLY BEGIN ONCE THERE'S AGREEMENT:

Palestinian leaders begin talks in Mecca (The Associated Press, February 7, 2007)

In a sign of unity, Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal and President Mahmoud Abbas, head of the Fatah faction, drove to Mecca in the same car for the first day of what Saudi and Palestinian officials have said will be intensified negotiations that will continue until a deal is hammered out.

"We came here to agree and we have no other option but to agree," Mashaal told the inaugural ceremony in a royal palace over looking the Kaaba, the shrine that all Muslims face in their daily prayers.

Abbas vowed that "we will not leave this holy place until we have agreed on everything good, with God's blessing ... I tell our people to expect good news, and I hope this (meeting) will not be mere words in the air."

Here we see one of the big benefits of Shi'a liberation as the normally moribund Sunni states are panicked into getting their own house in order.

Posted by Orrin Judd at February 7, 2007 8:25 AM