A planned meeting between Hamas and Fatah aimed at reaching a deal over a new unity government was delayed after the two movements failed to agree on a prime minister.

A planned meeting between Hamas and Fatah aimed at reaching a deal over a new unity government was delayed after the two movements failed to agree on a prime minister.

Fatah officials told the Reuters news agency that the meeting, scheduled for Tuesday, between Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who heads Fatah, and Hamas Chief Khaled Meshaal, had been postponed.
"We asked our brothers and the Egyptian leadership to postpone the meeting for several days," said Azzam al-Ahmed, head of the Fatah delegation to unity talks in Cairo.

"We will call them in a few days to set a date for a new meeting, and we hope the next session will be successful," he told Reuters.
For his part, Hamas spokesperson Taher Al-Nono confirmed that Fatah asked for a delay.
"We are ready to meet once they are," Al-Nono told Reuters.

A statement issued earlier from the office of the head of Hamas' administration in Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh, said: "The meeting may be postponed and this will have serious implications for the discussions on forming the government."

The unity deal was reached after both groups agreed to a reconciliation deal in April, when the rival factions agreed to form an administration of ministers without party affiliations, to prepare for general elections within a year.
Fatah, led by Western-backed Abbas, nominated Salam Fayyad, a former World Bank economist who currently heads the government in the West Bank, to the post.

However, Hamas has rejected Fayyad, accusing him of co-operating with Israel's blockade on Gaza.
One Fatah officials, who asked not be identified, attributed the delay to the dispute over appointing Fayyad.