Hamas, Fatah resume reconciliation talks in Cairo

Rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah on Monday restarted their long deadlocked reconciliation talks in Cairo, incorporating new Egyptian ideas, said participants.

Talks broke down earlier this month mainly over the issue of the extent Hamas would abide by past Palestinian accords with Israel.

Senior Fatah negotiator Nabil Shaath said the Egyptian suggestion concerned the formation of the government and its political program.

The two Palestinian factions have been at odds since the bloody power struggle in 2007 when Hamas seized the Gaza Strip, splitting Palestinian territories in two and leaving Fatah in control of the West Bank.

Ali Barakeh, a senior Hamas official in Damascus, said that Fatah's cooperation with the U.S. and submission to its ideas about the Middle East peace process were the main obstacle to a Palestinians reconciliation.

"If Fatah doesn't submit to ... U.S. pressure, we could within hours reach a comprehensive solution for all pending issues," he said.

Hamas political chief Khaled Meshal, who lives in exile in Syria, vowed Hamas would never recognize Israel and foreign countries' insistence on doing that had bogged down the talks.

Palestinian envoy to Cairo, Amr Nabil, however, said Hamas needed to be realistic "because without being in tune with the international situation ... we will not be able to rebuild Gaza or promote the efforts to establish a Palestinian state."