Hamas says no elections before reconciliation

Militant Islamic Hamas movement will not participate in Palestinian elections before a reconciliation is reached with rival Fatah party of president Mahmoud Abbas, an official said on Wednesday.

"Hamas will not go to the elections before signing the national reconciliation and releasing all our members jailed by the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank," a Hamas official told Xinhua.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, accused Fatah of limiting Egyptian-brokered inter-Palestinian dialogue to "the issue of elections."

Presidential and parliamentary elections are due before Jan. 25,2010 while the biggest two factions still unable to bridge their widening gaps. Crisis worsened in 2007 when Hamas routed pro-Abbas forces and seized control of the Gaza Strip.

The Hamas official said that Fatah, which holds sway in the West Bank, "thinks that the results of the elections would definitely for its favor."

In Ramallah, the Egyptian mediators ended a series of talks between Hamas and Fatah in preparation for the forthcoming round of dialogue on Aug. 25. Local sources said the discussions had achieved no tangible progress. Egypt hopes the agreement to be reached on this upcoming dialogue sessions.

Hamas insisted that the Fatah-dominated security services in West Bank free all Hamas supporters there and promised to respond by a similar goodwill gesture in the Gaza Strip.

On Tuesday, Hamas' interior minister said it will free 100 prisoners, half of them affiliated with Fatah, on the eve of Muslim's holy fasting month of Ramadan.