A former senior Palestinian security official on Wednesday expressed doubts that Hamas movement, which rules the Gaza Strip, would accept the idea of holding legislative elections in January 2010.

Tawfiq Tirawi, former intelligence chief, told reporters in Ramallah that Hamas movement has asked to postpone the legislative elections for another two years "to finalize a prisoners swap with Israel and free 1,450 Palestinian prisoners in order to improve their image among their people."

"I bet that Hamas wants to join another elections after it won in the 2006 elections because its leaders know well that they will lose the next elections after the people discovered their reality," said Tirawi.

Hamas, which joined the legislative elections for the first time in January 2006 since it was founded in 1987, had ousted its rival Fatah movement and dominated the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC).

In mid-June 2007, the movement took control of the Gaza Strip by force and routed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah security forces. The West Bank remained under the rule of Abbas.

Tirawi, meanwhile, slammed the way Hamas movement rules the Gaza Strip, saying "Hamas claims that it achieved security in Gaza, which is a big lie. Gaza is not safe and we can all see the daily crimes of violations of human rights there."

"Hamas claims that there are political prisoners in our jails, which are untrue. Their prisoners were arrested for criminal reasons after they planned to carry out attacks that targets the Palestinian National Authority and its officials," said Tirawi.