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Reconciliation talks between rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah have been postponed at the 11th hour.
All the major factions had been due to attend the talks in the Egyptian capital on Monday, but on Saturday delegates were turned back as reports emerged that Hamas would not be attending.
Mahmoud Zahar, a senior Hamas leader, told Al Jazeera that his faction was not boycotting the Cairo summit, as earlier reports had indicated, but that Egypt had postponed the gathering due to a "bad atmosphere".
Hamas and Fatah have been at loggerheads since Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip in June 2007.
Tensions had increased in the past few days due to what Hamas says is an increase in the number of its members being arrested in the Fatah-administered West Bank.
Zahar said: "Egypt postponed the talks because it believed there was a bad atmosphere between the two sides that would have most likely led to the failure of the talks."
Fawzi Barhoum, a Hamas spokesman, had said earlier in the day: "Hamas decided not to attend the dialogue talks in Egypt. We have informed the Egyptian authorities of our decision."
Hamas has expressed reservations, saying that it would give Abbas an automatic extension of his presidential term, which it insists must end in January.
An Egyptian official said: "The talks have been delayed to an undetermined date, to be decided on and announced later, at the request of Hamas."
Al Jazeera's Nour Odeh, reporting from Cairo, said: "We have to wait and see how Egypt will react. This is not an easy situation for them since they have spent so much of their regional political capital on getting Palestinians to form a government of national consensus.
"There are warnings that Egypt might hold one party responsible for these failed attempts to achieve reconciliation."
Palestinian unity
Nabil Abu Rudeina, a spokesman for Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president and head of Fatah, criticized Hamas, saying: "Hamas carries the responsibility for the failure of the Cairo dialogue and the responsibility for losing the opportunity to regain Palestinian unity and stop the division between Palestinians."
Hamas has repeatedly threatened to withdraw from the talks.
Hamas has accused Fatah of arresting hundreds of the movement's members in the West Bank in recent weeks.
"Our decision was made because president Mahmoud Abbas is continuing to weaken the Hamas movement and he has not released any Hamas detainees in the West Bank," Barhoum said.
PHOTO CAPTION
Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas
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