Sana'a, Yemen - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Wednesday a Yemeni plan to resolve the dispute between the rival Fatah and Hamas movements needed Arab support to enforce it.

"The Yemeni initiative is clear as the sun ... we will discuss ways to implement this initiative under an Arab sponsorship," Abbas told reporters on arrival in Sana'a on a two-day visit.

He said the plan "needs an Arab mechanism to put it into action."

Saleh managed to bring together negotiators from Fatah and Hamas last March in Sana'a for talks on a Yemeni plan to end the intra- Palestinian dispute.

He presented the plan earlier this year to end the conflict between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority (PA) that arose when Hamas used force to oust the PA from the Gaza Strip, leaving it in control only of the West Bank.

Fatah and Hamas accepted the Yemeni initiative, but disagreed later over the interpretation of the agreement.

A week later, a Syrian-hosted Arab summit approved the Yemeni initiative.

"Since it is an Arab initiative, our Arab brothers are requested to put a mechanism to implement it," Abbas said.

The seven-clause Yemeni initiative calls on Hamas movement to end its military takeover of the Gaza Strip that began in June 2007, rebuild the security apparatuses and schedule early presidential and legislative elections.

Fatah movement wants an immediate implementation of the initiative, while Hamas movement insists that the Yemeni plan is only to serve as the basis for talks to resolve issues.

Yemeni officials said Abbas will hold talks Thursday with Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh on efforts to commence a dialogue between Fatah and the Islamist Hamas movement. (dpa)