Fatah accepts Egypt proposal for Palestinian unity

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Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party has accepted Egypt's plan for separate signings of a reconciliation deal with Hamas after the Islamist group balked at attending a unity ceremony.

Egypt had called on the two sides to attend a ceremony in Cairo at the end of the month, to sign a reconciliation pact.

But last week, Hamas asked for a postponement, saying it hadn't finalized its position on the reconciliation proposal.

It has criticized Abbas'government, claiming it was pressured by the US to back the UN Human Rights Council's decision to delay a vote on a report that accused Israel of war crimes in Gaza offensive early this year.

Fawzi Barhoum, Hamas Spokssman, said, "This affirms that Fatah and even other partners in Oslo are still conspiring against the Palestinian cause and are trying to vindicate the Zionist enemy from their crimes."

Meanwhile, President Mahmoud Abbas slammed Hamas by saying the movement had made use of the UN fact-finding report to evade signing the pact.