Hamas leaders head to Cairo for talks on Palestinian reconciliation

Hamas leaders will hold talks in Cairo on Wednesday on proposals to end the schism with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah group by reshaping the way the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip is governed.

Egyptian mediators have proposed setting up a government of technocrats in the territory to prepare for early parliamentary and presidential elections and revamping, under Arab supervision, Gaza's security forces, Palestinian officials said.

Islamist Hamas, which seized control of the Gaza Strip from secular Fatah in fighting in June 2007, has rejected the presence of an Arab security force and formation of a government in which its political leaders would not be able to serve.

It has called instead for a coalition government that would include politicians from Hamas, Fatah and other factions.

"We are heading to Cairo with true intentions of reaching an agreement, but not at any price," senior Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Zahar told reporters before crossing into Egypt on Tuesday.

Representatives of Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) factions, including a delegation from Fatah, met separately with Egyptian Intelligence chief Omar Suleiman throughout September.

Senior Fatah official Azzam al-Ahmad, speaking in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, told reporters all PLO factions had accepted the Egyptian proposals and were waiting to hear from Hamas before a meeting of the Arab League in November.

"If there's an agreement, the Arabs will provide financial, technical, and political support to ensure the success of the reconciliation deal. If there's no agreement, the Arab League will take a clear position against the party blamed for the failure of the talks," Ahmad said.

Zahar said such pressure on Hamas "would not achieve anything."

Chief Fatah negotiator Nabil Shaath, urging Hamas to show flexibility, said he hoped rifts could at least be narrowed.