Inter-Palestinian dialogue can not succeed unless president Mahmoud Abbas' forces stop cracking down against Hamas supporters in the West Bank, a Hamas spokesman said on Thursday.

"The fate of national dialogue is subjected to Fatah's behavior on the ground," said the spokesman Fawzi Barhoom in a press statement sent to reporters, referring to Abbas' party which holds sway in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Egypt, which sponsors the Palestinian national dialogue, promised Hamas to intervene and press pro-Abbas forces to stop arresting Hamas members in the West Bank, Barhoum said.

On Wednesday, a Hamas official told Xinhua that his movement decided to continue the Egyptian-mediated reconciliation talks with Fatah.

Earlier, Hamas threatened to boycott the dialogue after Fatah-led security forces raided two Hamas hideouts in the West Bank in recent days, killing four Hamas gunmen, four policemen and a civilian in the gun battles.

The West Bank standoff is the worst in a two-year-old feud between Hamas and Fatah, that started when the Islamic movement routed pro-Abbas forces and seized control of the Gaza Strip.

(Xinhua News Agency June 12, 2009)