Deposed Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haneya on Monday said intense talks between his Islamic movement, Fatah and Egyptian mediators were underway to stop Palestinian feud from deterioration.

The talks are aimed at dealing with the aftermaths of deadly clashes between Hamas militants and forces loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah in the West Bank which have killed four Hamas fighters, four policemen and a civilian, he said.

The standoff "casts a harmful shadow over the Palestinian dialogue," Haneya told reporters, referring to mutual negotiations between his movement and Fatah Egypt has been hosting since February.

Haneya confirmed that Hamas officials will meet the Egyptian mediators "in the few coming hours to look into the fate of the dialogue." Fatah representatives had met with the Egyptians earlier.

Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, threatened to boycott an upcoming round of Palestinian national dialogue due to what it says a Fatah-led clamp down on Hamas members and supporters in the occupied West Bank.

The dialogue seeks the formation of a unity government to restore political ties to the geographically-separated Gaza Strip and the West Bank. The Egyptian initiative was the first successful effort to launch official dialogue between the two Palestinian groups since Hamas took over the Gaza Strip in June 2007.

(Xinhua News Agency June 9, 2009)