Hamas wants Abbas to stop peace talks with Israel

A senior Hamas official says the rival Palestinian Authority must end security coordination and peace talks with Israel before any reconciliation talks can take place.

A senior Hamas official says the rival Palestinian Authority must end security coordination and peace talks with Israel before any reconciliation talks can take place. The remarks by Osama Hamdan are bound to complicate Arab efforts to reconcile Hamas, which controls Gaza, and the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority in the West Bank.

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Hamdan is Hamas' representative in Lebanon and is close to top Damascus-based leader Khaled Mashaal.

Speaking at a rally in Beirut Sunday, Hamdan said Hamas welcomed Palestinian dialogue, but any reconciliation should be based on "a resistance program to liberate the (occupied) territory and regain rights."

He maintained that the Israeli-Palestinian peace process had ended.