Cairo - Palestinian Islamists who met with Egyptian mediators have agreed to form a government of "national reconciliation," not one of national unity, Hamas leader Mahmoud al- Zahar said Thursday.

The government of national reconciliation "might include members of other Palestinian factions along with Hamas and Fatah," Zahar told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

He declined to explain how the powers of both Hamas and Fatah would be divided in such a government. "We do not want to go into those details now."

Cairo- Hundreds of Egyptian villagers protested early Thursday after police killed a pregnant woman in a house raid, a security source told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

The 26-year-old pregnant woman resisted police who came to arrest her brother, who is being investigated in a robbery case.

Police hit the woman, who died after she was moved to a hospital in Samalout.

Samalout is located some 217 kilometres south of Cairo.

New Delhi - There were positive signals from talks brokered by Egypt with Palestinian factions, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said in New Delhi Thursday.

Speaking to reporters at the conclusion of a four-day visit to India, Abbas also said a decision on elections in the Palestinian Territories - presidential and legislative - would be held after an Arab proposal based on the Egypt-brokered talks was made.

He said the proposal was expected by the end of October or early November.

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Cairo - At least eight people died Wednesday when a building collapsed in the coastal Egyptian city of Alexandria, according to a security official.

Additionally, one woman was injured in the collapse. It was unknown how many people might still be buried in the rubble, the official told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

The collapse of the five-storey building may have been caused by poor construction that allowed more floors to be added to the building than the structure could support.

Cairo - Egyptian Finance Minister Youssef Boutros Ghali on Tuesday said that choosing him to head the International Monetary Fund's top decision-making body reflects developing countries' increasing involvement in the global economy.

Ghali's pick, announced by the IMF late Monday, marked the first time a minister from an emerging market or developing country had been chosen to chair the International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC).