The fifth round of Hamas-Fatah talks started in Egypt's capital Saturday afternoon, but the prolonged talks have achieved little so far, according to a Hamas official.

"We came here with the hope of reaching a deal regarding the unsettled issues but we feel that the talks are prolonged without real results. There is very little progress as if we were cooking stones," Ezat Al-Rashq, a member of Hamas' delegation, told Xinhua at the end of the first day of the talks.

"We offered all the needed flexibility and concessions to our Palestinian people to reach a deal with our brothers in the Fatah movement, but unfortunately we do not feel that they are dealing in the same flexibility and they did not offer the proper facilities for the success of the talks," Al-Rashq said.

"We are worried about their ability of reaching an agreement, and their internal problems affect the talks," Al-Rashq said, referring to President Mahmoud Abbas' failed attempt to form a government without Hamas.

On Wednesday, the formation of a new Palestinian government, which was proposed by Abbas, was delayed due to differences which emerged in the last minute between Fatah party and the Western-backed Prime Minister Salam Fayyad over the lineup.

Most of the controversial candidates were members of Fayyad-led Third Road Trend party which was founded before he joined the parliamentary elections in 2006.

Fatah members loyal to Abbas feared that these members would boost Fayyad's influence in the Fatah-dominated Palestinian National Authority.

Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, thought the formation of such a government would sabotage its talks with Fatah on forming a unity government.

Hamas said the new government means announcing the "earth death" of the unity dialogue, in the previous rounds of which Hamas and Fatah failed to agree on a unity government.

Meanwhile, Nabil Shaath, a member of Fatah's central committee, told Xinhua that "We hope that this round would be decisive and we have to try to achieve that with all our efforts."

According to delegates of the two sides, the major topic of this round would be issues related to forming a joint governing body that ends the rift between Hamas-ruled Gaza and Fatah-dominated West Bank. The two parties have yet to agree on the political platform of the proposed unity government.

The system of the general elections, the rehabilitation of the security apparatuses and the reform of the Palestine Liberation Organization are also on the agenda of the dialogue.

"Today's talks are preliminary. After a while we have to meet the Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, and tomorrow the talks between Fatah and Hamas will start in the presence of the Egyptian mediator," senior Fatah official Azzam Al-Ahmed told reporters after the first session on Saturday.

Earlier in the day, Al-Ahmed said that the issue of the unity government will not be handled at the ongoing fifth round of inter-Palestinian dialogue.

"We are discussing an Egyptian proposal to form a committee from factions due to the huge gap between the factions on forming a unity government, I do not think that this round will be the last," he told an interview with the local Nile TV.

The last round of Palestinian talks was held in Cairo on April 27-28, but the two-day talks did not touch on the issue of the unity government, though some "substantial progress" was achieved on the Palestinian Liberation Organization.

Egypt has said that it will continue to sponsor the dialogue and create a favorite atmosphere for ending the current rift between Fatah and Hamas.

Yet, Palestinian observers in Gaza have voiced concerns that even if a reconciliation agreement is signed among the factions, mainly between Fatah and Hamas, there will be many difficulties that will impede the implementation of the agreement.

(Xinhua News Agency May 17, 2009