Mashal calls unconditional dialogue with PA

"We are ready for an unconditional dialogue with the Palestinian Authority sponsored by a Palestinian or Arab to preserve the rights of our people," Head of Hamas' political bureau in Damascus, Khalid Mash'al, said on Wednesday.

Mash'al was speaking at the opening of the Palestinian National Conference in the Syrian capital, Damascus.

In his address he called for a new strategy based on five components: "Firstly we should agree precisely on the controversial issue of liberation before agreeing on the state. Secondly, the determination of Palestinian rights and reaffirming them to insist on Palestinian rights. Thirdly, giving priority for resistance. Fourthly, to provide people with the needs so they can live under occupation and lastly, we should be united on a Palestinian level and then on an Arab level," he said.

Mash'al stressed that the conference was not meant to promote division between the Palestinians.

Referring to Israel's closure of all the crossings into the Gaza Strip on January 17, he said, "We call for continued popular anger until they lift the siege," adding that "Arab rage", like the storming of the Rafah crossing on the Egyptian border by tens of thousands of Palestinians would continue.

He described the action as "a popular decision," saying "Do not blame the people of Gaza for breaking through the wall. This was the people's decision and was not organized."

"Even if Gaza was drowning in fuel we will not accept it we just want an end to the siege," he said, describing the limited quantities of fuel which Israel has allowed into the sector as an "Israeli trick."

Many Palestinian factions are present at the conference but Hamas' rivals Fatah, have refused to attend.

The Secretary-General of the Islamic Jihad movement in Palestine, Ramadan Abdullah Shalah, called for an end to negotiations between the Palestinian Authority and Zionist regime. He added that what is happening in Gaza is Israeli decision with the encouragement of some Arabs or Palestinians.

He also called for "the abolition of the Oslo agreement," which was signed in 1993 between the Palestine Liberation Organisation and Zionist regime.

The Secretary-General of the Popular Front General Command Ahmed Jibril criticized the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah for their insistence on excluding the Islamic resistance, Hamas and Islamic Jihad from the political process.