Palestinian unity government talks continuing: PM

"The appearances of problems here or there do not amount to a dead end in the road because everyone has serious and honorable intentions to see the idea of a national unity government come to fruition," Haniya said in a statement released by the Hamas-led government after its weekly cabinet meeting.

Haniya denied reports that emerged Sunday that Abbas had frozen the negotiations pending his return from New York, where he is due to address the UN General Assembly.

Upon his arrival in Amman on Sunday en route to New York, Abbas said he had temporarily suspended talks to form a national unity government.

Top aides to the president attributed the decision to comments by Haniya Saturday in which the Hamas prime minister said no future government would abide past deals with the Jewish state.

That, along with renouncing violence and recognizing Israel, are the three conditions imposed by the quartet -- comprising the United States, European Union, Russia and the United Nations -- to resume aid to the bankrupt Palestinian Authority.

Palestinians hope a national unity government will convince Western powers to end the aid boycott.

Haniya, in his statement, said European leaders had "expressed their readiness to deal with the national unity government and reconsider their flawed positions that they have taken of late."

Other Hamas leaders, however, maintained the movement's defiant stance on recognizing past peace deals signed with Israel.

Mohammad Awad, general secretary of the Hamas cabinet, said that "the statements which some Hamas members have made about not recognizing international decisions, these statements are nothing new for there are many different political visions from the various factions."

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