Ramallah  - Egypt has called for presidential and legislative elections in the West Bank and Gaza in the first half of 2010 under a plan designed to end the feud between rival Palestinian factions.

The proposals, published in the Palestinian press on Thursday, were presented to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and all other factions, including the radical Islamist Hamas movement ruling Gaza - a bitter rival of Abbas and his secular Fatah party.

Egypt expects to receive a response by Saturday, according to Palestinian officials who have read the document.

The plan envisages elections in the Palestinian autonomous areas during the first half of next year rather than the official date of January 25. This is to allow more time for the parties to resolve differences that have prevented them from reaching a reconciliation.

It also proposes the elections be held under Arab and international supervision, based on political lists accounting for 75 per cent of candidates and district lists for the remaining 25 per cent. Fatah and Hamas have different views on this.

Fatah wants a proportional representation vote, while Hamas, which has controlled the Gaza Strip since June 2007, wants half the parliament elected through a method of district representation. Hamas also says it will not agree to elections before a reconciliation agreement is reached.

Palestinian officials said Thursday that the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) was expected to discuss the paper later in the day.

The Egyptian proposal also deals with two other sticking points: security and the government.

It proposes establishing a higher security committee of professional and non-partisan officers functioning under Egyptian and Arab command with a mission to reform and reunite the security forces in both the West Bank and Gaza.

It also calls on both parties to agree on a framework for a release of prisoners detained by both factions during the past two years.

As for the government, it proposes establishing a joint committee from all political factions to run the West Bank and Gaza Strip while preparing for national elections.

Abbas is worried the presence of Hamas in a government could lead the international community to boycott it unless this government openly recognizes Israel and accepts agreements the Palestinian Authority had signed with Israel over the years.

Hamas so far has rejected these two conditions.

The Egyptians have been holding marathon talks with the Palestinian factions, hoping to bring the parties closer to an agreement that would end internal Palestinian division.

Cairo's next move or the start of another round of long delayed reconciliation talks depends on the Palestinian response to their draft proposal.

Fatah and Hamas have been locked in a bitter and at times bloody power struggle since Hamas unexpectedly beat Fatah in the last parliamentary elections held in January 2006.

Abbas was elected in separate presidential elections a year earlier, on a platform contrasting that of Hamas. The stand-off culminated in Hamas violently seizing control of the Gaza Strip in June 2007, causing a split with the West Bank that remains as yet unresolved. (dpa)