Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas would start Saturday a tour in three Arab countries, including Mauritania, Libya and Egypt, well-informed Palestinian sources said on Saturday.

According to the sources, Abbas, who is currently in Jordan, is scheduled to head later on Saturday to the Mauritanian capital Nouakchott to pay his first visit to the country since he took office in January.

Then Abbas would go to Libya to participate in the African summit in Sirte, where he was scheduled to meet with Libyan leader Colonel Mommar Kaddafi.

The Palestinian leader later would stop in Cairo to meet with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and other Egyptian officials before he heads back to Amman and from Amman to Ramallah, said the sources,

Abbas has been in Amman since Wednesday to participate in the meeting of Fatah movement central committee.

It is the first time since the establishment of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) in 1994 that the meeting of Fatah central committee is held abroad. Late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat used to chair the meetings in the Palestinian territories.

Sources close to the meeting said Fatah central committee was discussing the issues of appointing a deputy to Abbas and forming a Palestinian national unity government.

Source: Xinhua