Gaza City/Cairo - Hamas said Wednesday that Palestinian factions agreed in Cairo on forming a transitional unity government which would prepare for new elections by early next year, but the sides were still disputing the government's platform.

Fawzi Barhoum, a senior leader of the radical Islamist movement ruling the Gaza Strip, said in a written statement sent to journalists from Cairo that the parties agreed on the nature of the government, which will be a transitional one that is to prepare for new elections on a date no later than January 25, 2010.

He said the sides were, however, still debating the political platform as well as the proposed government's ministerial posts.

The platform has been a major point of dispute, with the secular Fatah party of moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas demanding it endorse past peace agreements signed by the Fatah-dominated Palestine Liberation Organization
(PLO), calling for a two-state solution to the conflict with Israel. (dpa)