RAMALLAH: Egyptian mediators on Thursday held their first West Bank talks with Hamas representatives since before the Islamist movement seized the Gaza Strip in June 2007.

For the first time in three years, we are delighted to meet our Egyptian friends here and are optimistic that the negotiations will bear fruit, Hamas representative Omar Abdel Razek told AFP ahead of the meeting.

The talks aimed at ending the two-year rift between Hamas and the Palestinian leadership of president Mahmud Abbas were held in a hotel in Abbas s West Bank base of Ramallah.

They followed talks earlier in the day between the Egyptian delegation led by deputy intelligence chief Mohammed Ibrahim, and Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad and chief negotiator Ahmed Qorei.

The rival Palestinian factions resumed reconciliation talks in February. They have agreed to begin what they say will be a final round on July 25. -AFP