A senior Egyptian delegation is holding intensive meetings in Ramallah with various Palestinian parties to resolve disputes before a seventh round of inter-dialogue in Cairo on July 25, a senior Egyptian official said on Saturday.

"Egypt is determined to exert every possible effort to help bring about the Palestinian dialogue," said General Mohamed Ibrahim, the aide to Egypt's intelligence chief and head of the delegation, following a series of meetings with Palestinian factions,

Rival Islamic Hamas movement and President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah party still have differences on issues related to ending mutual political arrests in the West Bank and Gaza, as well as issues related to the joint security forces and the electoral system.

"We hope that the parties will be able to overcome their differences and finalize an initial agreement on July 25," said Ibrahim.

Egypt has been sponsoring six rounds of dialogue between rival Fatah and Hamas in Cairo since March, which, however, yielded no tangible result.

It is the first time since the start of the dialogue that senior Egyptian security officials hold direct talks with West Bank Hamas leaders. Previous talks were held in Cairo, while West Bank leaders were not able to join.

Ibrahim and his delegation, who visited Damascus on Wednesday and arrived in Ramallah on Thursday, held intensive talks with President Abbas and with Hamas and left-wing parties' leaders, who expressed optimism that an inter-reconciliation agreement would be signed in Cairo by the end of July.

The Palestinian state-run news agency Wafa quoted senior Palestinian officials as saying that Egypt presented a proposal to both Abbas and Hamas leaders to bridge the gaps and pave the way for inking a deal on late July.

Abbas and West Bank Hamas leaders had expressed different views to the Egyptian delegation concerning the reconciliation. Abbas stressed that he would accept any Egyptian proposal to end Gaza blockade and that he has no preconditions to resume the national dialogue with Hamas.

Meanwhile, Hamas leaders stressed on cleaning the Palestinian prisons in the West Bank before signing any reconciliation agreement with Fatah. Hamas threatened to postpone the next round of dialogue if it receives no clear answer from Abbas on ending arrests against its members in the West Bank.

"We informed the Egyptian delegation that without ending the file of political prisoners, other files would remain unresolved," said West Bank Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Rumhi.

Hamas has also insisted, during a meeting held with the Egyptian delegation in Ramallah, that general elections must be held on time (scheduled maximum on January 25 next year), "in condition to prepare well for it and allow free election campaigns in the Palestinian territories."

On Saturday, Hamas and Fatah said both are continuing cracking down against each other's supporters in Gaza and the West Bank. The two rivals have started hunting down their opponents since June 2007, when Hamas routed pro-Abbas forces and seized control of Gaza after deadly fighting.

The politically-motivated arrests continued though Egyptian security delegation has been staying in the West Bank for three days, trying to pave the way for a new talk session between Hamas and Fatah on July 25.

Fatah said in a statement that Hamas forces arrested 41 Fatah and former pro-Abbas forces members in southern Gaza. Hamas has meanwhile accused Fatah-dominated Palestinian National Authority (PNA) of arresting seven of its members in Bethlehem and Jericho.

"We are waiting for answers to the arrests issue. They (Fatah) should give us a specific schedule on ending political arrests against Hamas in the West Bank," al-Rumhi said, adding "on July 18, the Egyptians would sponsor a joint Fatah-Hamas meeting in the West Bank."

"If there will be a budge, we will go to the (seventh round of)dialogue, if there will be no move, we won't go," said al-Rumhi, member of Hamas delegation, headed by parliament speaker Aziz al-Dewik and other West Bank Hamas leaders, that met late on Friday with the Egyptian delegation.

However, a Palestinian source closed to the talks, who spoke in condition of anonymity revealed that Hamas leaders informed the Egyptians they accept the proposal to form a joint factional committee to coordinate between Hamas and Fatah governments in Gaza and the West Bank.

"The two governments would remain until holding the elections on Jan. 25, while a joint Fatah-Hamas committee, with eight members from each party would join the committee that will prepare for the elections and the reconstruction of Gaza," said the source.

But left-wing leader Quays Abdel Karim warned that any bilateral solution reached only between Fatah and Hamas, mainly on the joint factional coordination committee, "wouldn't lead to ending the current political rift, but it would legalize it."

"I believe the best solution is to agree on forming a national unity government, and if the parties fail to agree on it, we should think about heading directly to holding general elections," said Abdel Karim, a Democratic Front to Liberate Palestine (DFLP) leader.

(Xinhua News Agency July 12, 2009)