Abbas urges dialogue with Hamas

Mr Abbas did not specify if his preconditions to Hamas remained

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas has called for renewed dialogue with Hamas although aides say he has not dropped demands it first cede control of Gaza.

Senior negotiator Saeb Erekat said the call, a year after the militants seized the territory, was not a new stance.

Mr Abbas branded the June 2007 seizure a "coup" and sacked a Hamas-led unity cabinet and revived talks with Israel.

Analysts say holding talks with Hamas would threaten Israel's acceptance of Mr Abbas as a negotiating partner.

But six months of US-sponsored peace talks have made little headway, which has weakened Mr Abbas and prompted growing criticism by him of Israel.

Another Abbas aide, Ahmad Qurei, said on Wednesday that a full peace deal with Israel by the end of 2008 as called for by the US, would take "a miracle."

Hamas welcome

Hamas, shunned by Israel as a terrorist group, claims to be the legitimate government in the occupied Palestinian territories after winning parliamentary elections in 2006.

Its action last year in effect split the Palestinian territories, Gaza and the West Bank, into two separately ruled entities

Mr Abbas has refused any talks until Hamas relinquished Gaza.

Israel has meanwhile closed off the Gaza Strip and blocked all but the most essential humanitarian supplies after militants stepped up rocket attacks from the territory.

Hamas officials immediately welcomed Mr Abbas's call for dialogue, which was made in a TV speech late on Wednesday.

It was not clear at the time, however, that he had not dropped preconditions that have prevented negotiations until now.

Mr Abbas's speech started off by criticising Israel for continued construction in West Bank settlements and other unilateral acts he were making peace less likely.

He went on to call for "comprehensive national dialogue to implement the Yemeni initiative in all its elements, to end the internal division that harms our people, (our) cause".

He said he would call new parliamentary and presidential elections if talks succeeded.

Several abortive efforts have been made, including by Egypt and Yemen, to repair the rift between Hamas and Mr Abbas's Fatah party.