PALESTINIAN FACTIONS SEEK COMMON GROUND.

Byline: Joel Greenberg The New York Times

Islamic and leftist Palestinian groups opposed to Yasser Arafat's self-rule accords with Israel joined his supporters Thursday in a ``national dialogue'' conference headed by Arafat to plan strategy for negotiations with the Israelis on a final peace settlement.

The meeting was the broadest gathering of Palestinian factions since the signing of the 1993 Israeli-Palestinian accords, and their most serious attempt to reach common political ground since the start of negotiations between the Palestine Liberation Organization and Israel.

While no conclusions were reached Thursday, participants said they had agreed to form a committee that will meet periodically to continue their dialogue.

Participants said their aim was to arrive at an agreed document that would outline Palestinian positions in negotiations on a permanent settlement with Israel. Those talks formally opened in May and are supposed to resume next month, covering issues like borders, the future of Jerusalem, Jewish settlements and Palestinian refugees.

``We want to discuss how all the political parties could participate in really putting together a certain platform that could be acceptable to everybody,'' said Riyad al-Malki, a representative of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a leftist opposition faction.

Muhammad al-Nashashibi, a member of Arafat's cabinet, said, ``The essential issue is that we all agree upon a certain document that will be our reference for the coming negotiations.''

In a speech opening the meeting, Salim Zaanoun, the chairman of the Palestine National Council, the largest decision-making body in the PLO, urged participants in the conference to work for ``national unity.''

``In the past, Palestinian factions took up arms because that was required by that stage,'' he said. ``Now we are at the stage that requires all factions and parties on all national and Islamic levels to stand in one line, in one trench, to deal with the problems expected now.''

Although the accords with Israel were endorsed by Arafat's mainstream Fatah faction in the PLO, they were bitterly denounced by both Islamic and leftist Palestinian groups as a sellout of Palestinian aspirations.

The groups, which included the militant Islamic movement Hamas and two extreme leftist factions, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, boycotted the Palestinian elections held under the accords last year. Scores of their members were arrested by Arafat's security forces in crackdowns that followed deadly attacks on Israelis.

But pragmatic trends in these groups, and expectations that the coming negotiations will focus on their concerns - especially the demand for an independent state - led them to respond to an invitation from Arafat's cabinet to join the ``national dialogue.''

Although opposition representatives insisted Thursday that their participation did not mean endorsement of the accords with Israel, their presence in the discussions, presided over by Arafat, served as an important affirmation of his leadership.

Earlier this week, the Popular Front and Democratic Front announced their withdrawal from a Damascus-based coalition of 10 militant Palestinian groups opposed to the accords with Israel.