The Islamist movement, Hamas, has said Palestinians will not be bound by any decisions taken at this week's US-backed Middle East peace conference.

Ismail Haniya, a leader of the group that is not attending the talks, said discussions would be "fruitless".

Some 40 countries and organisations have been invited to the conference on Tuesday in Annapolis, Maryland.

Israeli and Palestinian negotiators have been meeting in Washington to set out basic terms for the negotiations.

US President George W Bush is also holding separate talks with the Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, and the Palestinian Authority President, Mahmoud Abbas, on Monday.

'Fruitless'

Ahead of Tuesday's conference, several Hamas leaders met at the Palestinian parliament in Gaza City to sign a document stating that Mr Abbas had no right to make concessions in any peace deal.

"The people believe that this conference is fruitless and that any recommendations or commitments made in the conference that harm our rights will not be binding for our people," Mr Haniya said as he entered the building.

"It will be binding only for those who sign it."

Mr Haniya was dismissed by Mr Abbas from his position of prime minister of a national unity government in June shortly after Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip from the president's Fatah movement.

He was appointed to the role following his group's landslide victory in the January 2006 legislative election.

Hamas, which is designated a terrorist organisation by the US, EU and Israel, is not represented at Annapolis at all.

Another senior Hamas leader in Gaza, Mahmoud Zahhar, told the BBC that even if the group had been invited, it would be pointless participating because Israel was not prepared to end the occupation of Palestinian land.