Hamas has accused Abbas, right, of having hundreds of the movement's members arrested [AFP]

All the major factions had been due to attend the talks in the Egyptian capital on Monday, but on Saturday delegates were turned back as reports emerged that Hamas would not be attending.

Mahmoud Zahar, a senior Hamas leader, said that his faction was not boycotting the Cairo summit, as earlier reports had indicated, but that Egypt had postponed the gathering due to a "bad atmosphere".

Hamas and Fatah have been at loggerheads since Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip in June 2007.

Tensions had increased in the past few days due to what Hamas claims is an increase in the number of its members being arrested in the Fatah-administered West Bank.

Zahar said: "Egypt postponed the talks because it believed there was a bad atmosphere between the two sides that would have most likely led to the failure of the talks."

Fawzi Barhoum, a Hamas spokesman, had said earlier in the day: "Hamas decided not to attend the dialogue talks in Egypt. We have informed the Egyptian authorities of our decision."

Fatah and 11 other factions have welcomed a reconciliation plan, which calls for a politically independent government to be appointed until elections can be held.

Palestinian unity

Nabil Abu Rudeina, a spokesman for Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president and head of Fatah, criticised Hamas, saying: "Hamas carries the responsibility for the failure of the Cairo dialogue and the responsibility for losing the opportunity to regain Palestinian unity and stop the division between Palestinians."

Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip after bloody street fighting in June 2007 [EPA]

Hamas, which seized full control of the Gaza Strip in June 2007 after pushing out security forces loyal to Abbas, has repeatedly threatened to withdraw from the talks.

Hamas has accused Fatah of arresting hundreds of the movement's members in the West Bank in recent weeks.

"Our decision was made because president Mahmoud Abbas is continuing to weaken the Hamas movement and he has not released any Hamas detainees in the West Bank," Barhoum said.

Abbas has insisted his forces have arrested only those people who pose a security risk, and that they carried out their work irrespective of political affiliation.

"They are arrested and brought to justice," he said at a joint news conference in Ramallah with Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, on Friday.

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