Hamas says Egypt to delay Palestinian dialogue upon request

GAZA, Oct. 10 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian Islamic Hamas movement said Saturday Egypt has proposed to delay Palestinian national reconciliation dialogue to December in response to Hamas' request.

"A delegation from Hamas visited Cairo and asked for postponing the Palestinian national dialogue and the Egyptian officials have accepted the request," said Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas spokesman.

Abu Zuhri refused to reveal the content of the new proposal but another official, Salah al-Bardaweel, told reporters in Gaza that Egypt has delayed the declaration of the Palestinian reconciliation to December.

Abu Zuhri said that Hamas will study the new offer and will respond to the Egyptians soon.

In September, Egypt suggested holding Palestinian elections by the middle of 2010 to boost its efforts to reconcile Hamas and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement.

Since the previous offer extended the elections for nearly six months, Hamas and Fatah have accepted it and were ready to sign their reconciliation deal in Cairo in late October.

But the Fatah-led Palestinian National Authority's (PNA) support of delaying the UN Human Rights Council's (UNHRC) vote on a report condemning Israel over war crimes during last winter's war in Gaza has outraged the Palestinians and Hamas accused the PNA and President Abbas of betrayal.

Earlier, a Hamas official said that his movement can't shake hands with Abbas "who denied the blood and sacrifices of the Palestinian people" when his Geneva ambassador supported the postponing of the UN fact-finding mission's report on Oct. 2.

According to Abu Zuhri, "the Egyptian side understood the reasons" that led to Hamas' request to delay the national unity dialogue.

The dialogue aims at overcoming the political split that followed Hamas' violent takeover of the Gaza Strip.

Meanwhile, several independent Palestinians issued a joint statement rejecting the delaying of the Cairo-hosted inter-Palestinian dialogue.

"We don't see any justification for the postponement (of the dialogue) and the continuation of feud and division," the independents said in their press release.

The statement called on Egypt "to continue the efforts for paving the way and providing suitable atmosphere to complete the national reconciliation deal."