Islamic Hamas Movement insisted on Sunday that it will not sign any reconciliation deal with President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party by late July in Cairo before Abbas' security forces halt arrests against its members in the West Bank.

A senior Hamas official, told London-based al-Hayyat daily on condition of anonymity that there is a clear Hamas decision, internally agreed among the movement's leadership, that the priority is to resolve the file of the ongoing arrests against Hamas members in the Fatah-dominated West Bank.

"We decided not to sign any reconciliation agreement without resolving this issue," the official told the Saudi Arabian daily, adding "our stance concerning this issue is completely clear, and we insist that it must be ended before we go for another round of dialogue."

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

Egypt asked the two parties to get back to Cairo on July 25 for a last round of dialogue in order to sign a long-awaited reconciliation deal on July 28.

A senior Egyptian security delegation was busy meeting with Palestinian leaders in Damascus and Ramallah before going back to Cairo late Saturday, in a bid to bridge gaps and overcome differences before the upcoming Inter-Palestinian dialogue.

Ibrahim Abu el-Najja said in a press statement that the Egyptian security delegation handed the factions, including Fatah and Hamas movements, a paper that includes questions related to prisoners, security and elections issues, and will be waiting for the within the coming two weeks.

The Egyptians proposed a joint factional committee that coordinates between Hamas government in Gaza and Abbas government in the West Bank. The committee will work with both governments for 90 days and will be preparing for elections and will be responsible for the reconstruction of Gaza.

Abdel Rahman Zeidan, a senior Hamas leader said the new Egyptian form says that 90-day-old committee will not coordinate between the two governments' ministries "but it will be coordinate between associations and establishments in both Gaza and the West Bank."

On Sunday, a senior Fatah official said that the Palestinian factions' response to an Egyptian proposal will determine the fate of upcoming round of inter-reconciliation dialogue session.

Zeidan said that Hamas accepted the new Egyptian form, adding "but Fatah said it still studies the new Egyptian proposal," adding "we still disagree on the files of security and elections. The two issues can be easily resolved, if we agree on the new Egyptian form related to the factional joint committee."

In spite of the ongoing Egyptian mediation, both movement's security apparatuses are keeping cracking down on each other members in both Gaza ruled by Hamas and the West Bank ruled by Abbas. Fatah and Hamas said arrests have not stopped.

Abbas has earlier said that his security apparatuses are not arresting people in the West Bank for their political affiliations, "we arrest those who carry illegal weapons, disturb security and stability and practice money washing process."

Meanwhile, Abbas told the "October" Egyptian weekly magazine in an interview published on Sunday that he would accept any Egyptian proposal that ends the current rift and lift the siege imposed on the Palestinian people.

Abbas also told the Egyptian magazine that Hamas has two choices, either to form a government committed to the international Quartet's requirements, or go directly to the elections ballot under complete Arab and international observation.

He proposed to postpone all the unresolved outstanding issues, and only prepare for elections observed by 10,000 Arab and international observers including former US President Jimmy Carter.

"Who wins in the elections, will be the one who will rule the Palestinian (National) Authority," Abbas told October magazine.

Meanwhile, deposed prime minister of Hamas in Gaza Ismail Haneya said Sunday that Egypt has presented a proposal to overcome dialogue differences between Fatah and Hamas.

"We should remove all obstacles that block reaching an agreement, mainly the issue of political arrests in the West Bank which obstruct agreeing on other substantial issues. We are ready to offer political dues to regain national and geographical unity to save our people," Haneya told reporters.

(Xinhua News Agency July 13, 2009)