The Hamas Movement on Monday said that Gaza was open before all visitors from any part of the world with the exception of the "Zionist enemy", explaining that the visit to Gaza on Tuesday of Tony Blair, the international quartet committee's envoy to the region, was of humanitarian nature.

Ismail Radwan, one of the Hamas leaders in the Strip, said in a press statement that his Movement and the Palestinian government in Gaza were aware of the visit and added that the government had arranged the necessary security preparations for the visit.

He noted that the visit indicates that security was prevailing in the Strip, and asked the world community in this regard to lift the "oppressive siege" on Gaza.

The Ramattan news agency quoted senior sources as saying that Blair, the former British prime minister, is slated to visit the Strip on Tuesday to tour a number of UNRWA schools in northern Gaza and to meet John Ging, the director of UNRWA operations in the Strip, and a number of independent Palestinian figures.

Blair is also scheduled to open the second stage of a sewage project in Beit Lahia north of the Strip during his three-hour visit.

The visit is the first of its kind by an international figure since Hamas took over control of the Strip in mid June 2006.

Dialog Efforts May Not Succeed Due To American Veto

Izzat Al-Resheq, a member of the Hamas political bureau, played down on Monday the success of any efforts made at the present time to make PA chief Mahmoud Abbas sit at one table with Hamas leaders in light of his commitment to the American veto imposed on the national dialog.

In a press statement to the Quds Press, Resheq underlined that Abbas has not received the American and Israeli permission for dialog with Hamas, ruling out the possibility of initiating dialog with Fatah during the current year under these circumstances.

The Hamas leader stated that Hamas officials started a tour to a number of Arab countries to explain the Movement's stance towards many issues especially the national dialog, the truce and the prisoner swap deal.

He said that Hamas is also keen on retaining the Yemeni efforts to reconcile the Palestinian rivals moving especially the Sana'a declaration which called for initiating dialog on the basis of the Yemeni initiative.

The Hamas leader underscored that Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh understands the position of Hamas, adding that the PA deliberately made excuses to avoid dialog especially when they attributed false reports to the Yemeni president to the effect that the Yemeni initiative was for implementation and not for dialog and this was deplored by president Saleh himself.

Resheq pointed out that during discussions with the Yemeni president, many ideas were put forward including the need for Arab sponsorship of the inter-Palestinian dialog and Qatar was suggested to play this role.

Regarding Hamas position towards the expiration of Abbas's term of office at the end of this year, the Hamas leader said that his Movement would clarify its position in time, but it calls for respecting the law.