The Islamic Hamas movement's decision to suspend temporarily the registration of voters in the Gaza Strip on Monday outraged Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah Party, which said Hamas tries to evade from reconciliation merits.

Hamas' decision of suspending the process of registration came just a day before the Palestinian Central Elections Commission ( CEC) is due to update voters' record in the Palestinian territories for the first time since Hamas took over the costal enclave in mid June 2007.

Salah el-Bardaweel, a senior Hamas leader, told Xinhua that his movement's decision "doesn't mean regretting the reached understandings of achieving reconciliation."

"Hamas won't accept to go on with measures of holding the elections without creating proper atmosphere," el-Bardaweel said, adding that "the campaigns of repression against Hamas in the West Bank is still going on, therefore reconciliation would have no taste."

Meanwhile, Sami Abu Zuhri, Hamas spokesman in Gaza, said in a press release emailed to reporters that due to some obstacles, the movement suspended registration of voters in the Gaza Strip until the Palestinian factions including Fatah and Hamas meet and resolve these obstacles.

"The security violations against Hamas movement's leaders and supporters in the West Bank would disable them from registering in the offices of the Central Elections Commission and practicing their monitoring role," said Abu Zuhri.

He added it was originally agreed to start voter registration in the Palestinian territories and abroad for the presidential and legislative elections as well as elections of the Palestinian National Council, parliament in exile.

"Hamas was surprised that registration of voters was only for the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) elections, and this is a clear contradiction with the agreement reached in Cairo," said Abu Zuhri.

According to an understanding brokered by Egypt in March, Hamas and rival Fatah party agreed to hold the three elections together and register voters in the Palestinian territories and abroad.

Jamil al-Khaldi, director of CEC in Gaza, told Xinhua that Hamas rule has officially informed "our office in Gaza that we can 't update the voters' records nor call on the population to register for the elections."

Talking about Hamas' opposition of the nomination of employees in the Gaza branch of the CEC, al-Khaldi said "we proved to Hamas authorities that these nominations were legal and administratively right and we didn't make any violations."

Fatah Party leaders were outraged by the sudden Hamas decision and said that the Hamas suspension of the voter registration in the Gaza Strip "is evading from the merits of reconciliation, adding that "Hamas seeks excuse to delay the implementation of reconciliation."

Jamal Muheisen, a member of Fatah Central Committee, accused Hamas of being divided into two groups; one group who wants reconciliation to be implemented lives abroad while "the other group, which is based in Gaza, doesn't want at all any reconciliation to serve personal interests."

He called on Egypt, the sponsor of the inter-Palestinian reconciliation, to intervene and decide which party blocks reconciliation.

Muheisen also believed that the new Egyptian leadership "is more interested right now to end the internal Palestinian division and achieve reconciliation."

The Palestinian left-wing group the Democratic Front to Liberate Palestine (DFLP) said in a press statement emailed to Xinhua that it opposes Hamas' decision, adding "it contradicts with our people's aspirations and this would never help to end division and never achieve reconciliation."

The CEC is supposed to start update its records of voters on Tuesday.