The leader of the radical Palestinian group...

"I do not expect any progress in peace talks on the Palestinian, Syrian or any other direction of the Middle East settlement as the Israeli leadership is the leadership of war, aggression and occupation, rather than a leadership taking a stand for peace," Khaled Meshaal said at a news conference in Moscow.

He also said that talks with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas were not a top priority for Hamas in inter-Palestinian reconciliation.

"The primary goal is to reach inter-Palestinian reconciliation, not to meet with Abbas. A meeting is not that important... The primary objective is to forge reconciliation," he said.

He said that Hamas will sign the Cairo reconciliation deal, which Egypt put forward in early September 2009, only after it is amended according to previously reached agreements.

The two largest Palestinian factions split in June 2007 when Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip and pushed the ruling Fatah movement out of the enclave.

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