Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday said he was sorry for the failure of the latest round of reconciliation talks between his Fatah party and Islamic Hamas movement.

Egypt, which sponsors the Palestinian national dialogue, decided to organize a new session of talks starting on July 25 and Fatah said this round would be the last chance the Palestinians have.

"We express our regret for not accomplishing the deal to end the split and restore the unity in the sixth round of talks," Abbas said in a written statement sent to the media.

Abbas implicitly criticized Hamas for "fortifying behind factional interests that impose commitments harming the national interest."

Egypt has been trying to get Hamas and Fatah to agree on forming a unified government to replace Hamas' administration of the Gaza Strip and the Western-backed government that Abbas formed in the West Bank.

But as a result of Hamas' violent takeover of Gaza in 2007, obstacles emerged on the way of the dialogue, such as the party that would be in control of the security services in Gaza and the West Bank and the elections.

The statement said that Abbas ordered Fatah envoys to the dialogue to be flexible and to work hard on overcoming any obstacles.

(Xinhua News Agency July 2, 2009)