Damascus - On the eve of EU foreign-policy chief Javier Solana's visit to the region, Damascus-based Hamas political leader Khaled Meshaal said on Monday that Hamas is talking with European "parties" directly, but that it could not yet divulge details.

"There are contacts with European parties at this stage, but we are not announcing any details," Meshaal told reporters in Damascus.

Meshaal also refused to elaborate Hamas' position on talks in Cairo aimed at reaching a lasting truce between Hamas and Israel until it had concluded its negotiations with Egyptian officials.

"Hamas will not announce its position on a temporary treaty or a permanent treaty until the end of our negotiations with our Egyptian brothers," Meshaal said.

Also speaking in Damascus, Ahmed Jibril, leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, reiterated his stance that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, or Abu Mazen, as he is often called, should no longer be viewed as president of the Palestinian National Authority.

"Abu Mazen no longer represents the Palestinian people. As of today, he is the former president. He no longer has any legitimacy. We do not recognise him as the president of the Palestinian National Authority," Jibril said.

His remarks came after European foreign ministers gathered in Brussels reaffirmed their support for Abbas.

"We believe that Palestinian reconciliation behind president Mahmoud Abbas is fundamental to progress," Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg, whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency said Sunday.

But speaking from Damascus on Monday, Palestinian Islamic Jihad leader Ramadan Abdullah Shallah said that Palestinian reconciliation must come after resolving the Gaza crisis.

"There is no Palestinian-Palestinian fight," Shallah said. "The priority is now our bleeding wound in Gaza. The battle in Gaza is not over yet."

The Basic Law, the working constitution for the Palestinian territories in the absence of a constitution, holds that both the president and members of parliament should be elected to four-year terms.

Palestinians elected Abbas, the leader of Fatah, as president of the Palestinian National Authority in January 2005, but Hamas won parliamentary elections by a wide margin in 2006.

Before the old, Fatah-dominated parliament left office, it passed a law saying that parliamentary elections should take place at the same time as presidential elections. But the new Hamas-dominated parliament never included this in the Basic Law, and no elections are scheduled, leaving the question of Abbas' term open to debate. (dpa)