Palestinians Consider Abbas to Lead Interim Body GAZA - Initial Palestinian reports late Sunday indicated that the leaders of the rival Palestinian movements Fatah and Hamas might have found a way to break a long political deadlock by forming an interim unity government that would be led, at least at first, by Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority based in the West Bank. Mr. Abbas, the chief of Fatah, and Khaled Meshal, the political leader of Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist movement, were meeting in Qatar for talks on how to move forward with reconciliation efforts. Under an accord signed last May, the sides had agreed to form a government of independent technocrats to prepare for elections, but they had been unable to agree on a candidate for the post of prime minister. The Palestinian Information Center, a news Web site closely affiliated with Hamas, reported that the two sides had reached "a preliminary agreement that Abbas take responsibility for the government in the coming phase." Maan, an independent Palestinian news agency, also reported a proposal that would have Mr. Abbas serve as prime minister. The information, however, could not be immediately verified. The Palestinian news sites cited anonymous sources. Hamas officials contacted in Gaza on Sunday night did not confirm the reports. The rivalry between Hamas and the mainstream Fatah worsened after Hamas won parliamentary elections in 2006 and, a year later, took full control of Gaza after a brief factional war. Hamas drove the Fatah forces loyal to Mr. Abbas out of Gaza, limiting the president's authority to the West Bank and deepening the Palestinian schism. The path to reconciliation has been strewn with obstacles, and since the accord was signed last May little has changed on the ground. The latest reconciliation efforts come as Hamas is in flux, with its leadership outside the Palestinian territories on the move because of regional turmoil. A senior Hamas figure described as the last remaining member of the organization's politburo to leave its base in Damascus, Syria, crossed into Gaza on Sunday to cheers from a crowd of colleagues and supporters. The official, Emad al-Alami, crossed into Gaza from Egypt more than 20 years after he was expelled by Israel. So far he is the only prominent Hamas leader to have returned to the Palestinian territories from Syria, where a crackdown on a popular uprising has left thousands dead. Mr. Alami entered Gaza with his wife and children and was greeted by his mother. A Hamas military source warned that Mr. Alami's life could be at risk because he was once high on the list of people wanted by Israel. Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas spokesman in Gaza, said that Mr. Alami had come for a visit and that he did not know how long Mr. Alami would stay. Mr. Alami was deported from his Gaza home to Lebanon in 1991. Late last month Hamas officials said that Mr. Meshal had effectively abandoned his headquarters in Syria, and that there were no Hamas leaders left there. The officials said that Hamas had not yet made a decision about closing its Syrian offices or where to move its headquarters. Mr. Meshal has spent most of the past month on the move in the region. He survived an assassination attempt by Mossad agents in Jordan in 1997. Last week, Mr. Meshal, a Jordanian citizen, made his first official visit to Jordan since he was deported in 1999. Qatar, one of the most vocal Arab critics of Syria's president, Bashar al-Assad, served as a mediator in arranging Mr. Meshal's visit there.