Damascus - Khalid Meshaal, chief of the executive of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, on Thursday said his group was prepared to have a "direct dialogue without conditions" with the United States.

Speaking to supporters in the Syrian capital Damascus, Meshaal said the recent speech by US President Barack Obama to the Muslim world in which the president stated that Hamas had to be involved in a solution to the Mideast conflict was "a step in the right direction."

Obama's words however must be followed by action on the part of the United States, the Palestinian leader added, mentioning that Palestinians in the Gaza Strip continue to suffer under an Israeli blockade.

"Occupation and injustice go on," he said.

The Islamist leader also said there were optimistic signs in relation to negotiations between Hamas and rival Palestinian faction Fatah of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

Talks with Fatah would continue this coming Sunday in Cairo, he said.(dpa)