Egypt in more talks with Hamas

[January 13, 2009]  CAIRO, Egypt (AP) -- Envoys of the militant Hamas group resumed talks Tuesday in Cairo with Egyptian intelligence officials on a truce proposal to end fighting in the Gaza Strip where an Israeli offensive is in its third week.

The talks come as diplomatic efforts have made little concrete progress in reconciling key differences between Israel and the militant Palestinian group they accuse of firing rockets.

Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak, meanwhile, left for Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for talks with his ally, King Abdullah on a conflict which has divided the Arab world.

Mubarak unannounced departure followed reports in Egyptian state-owned papers about difficulties in the ongoing talks with Hamas.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the talks, said Egypt powerful chief intelligence Omar Suleiman, who has been a point man on relations with Hamas, accompanied Mubarak on his Saudi trip.

They said Suleiman left the Cairo talks with Hamas officials to be handled by his aides.

There is no indication what transpired in the negotiations prior to Suleiman's departure. A three-member Hamas delegation from the group's exiled leadership in Syria had returned to Cairo from Damascus late Monday to resume the talks.

The group has said it was sticking to its demands for an immediate withdrawal of Israeli forces and said it will only observe a cease-fire afterward.

The talks come as Israeli ground troops pushed deeper yet in the 18-day offensive, battling Palestinian militants in the streets of a densely populated Gaza City neighborhood early Tuesday. Palestinian hospital officials say more than 900 Palestinians, half of them civilians, have been killed.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Israel would end the military operations only when Hamas stops rocketing Israel and halts weapons smuggling across the porous border.

Meanwhile, a Hamas official in Syria downplayed rumors of a rift between group members in Gaza, a coastal strip bordering Israel and Egypt, and the exiled leadership in Damascus.

Mohammed Nazal of the Hamas political bureau, told The Associated Press that such reports were "meant to stir up confusion" over where Hamas stands and were "part of psychological warfare" by Israel.

Representing Hamas in talks in Egypt were Salah Bardaweel and Jamal Abu Hashem from Gaza, and Mohammed Nasr from the Damascus-based Political Bureau of the group, Nazal said.

[Associated Press; By SALAH NASRAWI]

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