Ramallah, West Bank -- Envoys of moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas held secret talks with the exiled leader of the Islamic militant Hamas in Syria for the past two weeks, and made progress toward forming a joint government, Abbas aides and an official close to the talks said Saturday.

The envoys were heading to Damascus on Saturday for another round of talks, and Abbas is to visit the Syrian capital later this month. If a coalition agreement is reached, Abbas would meet in Damascus with the supreme Hamas leader, Khaled Mashaal, the officials said on condition of anonymity.

Abbas unexpectedly left for Jordan on Saturday to brief Jordan's King Abdullah II on the developments. On Sunday, he is to be back in the West Bank, to meet with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who is touring the Middle East.

Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas confirmed in a televised speech that coalition talks had resumed, both in the Palestinian territories and abroad, but did not give details.

Haniyeh called on Hamas and Abbas' Fatah movement to end the internal fighting that killed 35 people in recent weeks.

"Enough, I say enough," he said. "All forms of internal fighting must stop." Haniyeh also said national unity is a religious duty, and that a coalition government must be formed.

Hamas and Fatah, bitter political rivals, had made repeated attempts in recent months to form a coalition, but talks failed because of disagreements over the political program and control over key Cabinet posts, such as interior and finance. Hamas balked at international demands that any Palestinian government recognize Israel, renounce violence and accept existing peace deals.

It remains unclear whether Hamas and Abbas' Fatah movement can end the yearlong political deadlock and reach a power-sharing agreement. Hamas, the winner of parliament elections a year ago, controls the Cabinet and parliament, while Abbas, elected separately, wields considerable power as president.

Last month, in a challenge to Hamas, Abbas threatened to call early election legislative and presidential elections, saying the Islamic militants, hit hard by an international aid boycott, have failed to provide basic services to the Palestinian people. Hamas accused Abbas of trying to bring down an elected government by illegal means, and vowed it would prevent elections from being held ahead of schedule.

Despite the rancor and bloodshed, the two sides made another bid to reach a power-sharing formula, by launching secret talks two weeks ago. It had become increasingly clear that Abbas cannot impose elections on Hamas, while the Islamic militants fear their popularity would suffer over continued internal fighting.

Abbas' envoys in negotiations with Hamas are independent lawmaker Ziad Abu Amr and Mohammed Rashid, a former economic adviser to Abbas' predecessor, Yasser Arafat.

Abbas aides, speaking on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to discuss the talks with reporters, said significant progress has been made. They said the two sides agreed to give the treasury and Foreign Ministry to independents, and that Haniyeh will remain prime minister.

A key sticking point remains control over the Interior Ministry, which oversees most of the security forces. Also, there is no agreement yet on a government platform, the officials said.

Hamas officials in Gaza would not discuss the negotiations in detail. Ismail Radwan, a Hamas spokesman, said in any scenario, Haniyeh would remain prime minister.

In other developments Saturday, Palestinian civil servants agreed Saturday to return to work, ending a four-month strike. The workers had called the strike because of Hamas' failure to pay the full salaries of the 165,000 government employees.

Some 50,000 teachers and health care workers returned to work last month.