JERUSALEM – Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas does not have full authority to engage in negotiations with Israel, and Hamas will block any deal reached during "pointless" talks with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, a Hamas spokesman said in an Arabic-language media interview.

"These meetings are pointless and do nothing to further the Palestinian cause," said Muhammad Saleh Taha during an interview last week with Al-Alam, an Iranian TV channel.

"We will not accept any negotiations with the occupier on the fundamental rights of the Palestinian people and their legitimate rights. [Hamas leaders] stressed that they had reservations about giving [Abbas] full authority in the negotiations," Taha said in the interview, which was translated by the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center at Israel's Center for Special Studies.

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During a visit here last month, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice brokered biweekly meetings between Olmert and Abbas to discuss immediate security issues and build confidence toward future negotiations. Rice said the hope is that regular meetings between the two leaders will lead to "two states living side by side in peace and security."

But during the interview with Al-Aram, Hamas bulked at any peace deal being forged by Abbas. Hamas in February entered a unity government with Abbas' Fatah organization that grants Hamas veto rights over any agreement with Israel.

"In the strongest of terms, we oppose such negotiations and everything that will come out of it. We, the Hamas movement, will not agree to it. ... The government platform is not the platform of Hamas, the Islamic resistance movement. ... Hamas will not relinquish its platform of resistance," said Taha.

When asked to clarify whether the Hamas movement would oppose any agreement reached between Abbas and Olmert, Taha replied: "Definitely."

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