Hamas will soon relocate its political headquarters to Qatar from Damascus, Palestinian sources

Hamas will soon relocate its political headquarters to Qatar from Damascus, Palestinian sources told the Arabic-language newspaper Dar Al-Hayat in a report published Saturday.

The report, which could not be immediately confirmed, came days after the Palestinian faction and its rival Fatah agreed to sign a reconciliation deal that would reunite the occupied territories.

Palestinian sources told the newspaper that the planned move to Doha came after Egypt and Jordan denied a similar request. Nevertheless, Egypt has agreed to host a Hamas "interest bureau," which Deputy Politburo Chief Mousa Abu Marzouk is likely to head.

Hamas' military leaders who are currently based in Damascus are slated to move to Gaza Strip, the paper said.

The information could not be independently corroborate. Al-Hayat did not list the reasons for Hamas' relocation, but hedged that it was linked with the popular uprising sweeping through Syria, which is threatening the stability of President Bashar Assad's regime; as well as the Fatah-Hamas reconciliation.

Hamas chief Khaled Masha'al will meet President and Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas in Cairo on Thursday to sign the deal, said representative of independent politicians Yaser Wadeiyah.

Wadeiyah said Palestinian factions would hold meetings in Cairo on Tuesday and Wednesday. Abbas and Masha'al would arrive in the Egyptian capital on Wednesday evening ahead of an official signing ceremony on Thursday.

It will be the first time the two men have met since the Islamist movement Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip in June 2007, ousting Fatah from the coastal territory after a week of bloody street battles.

Abbas last meet with the exiled Hamas chief, based in Damascus, at the end of April 2007, just six weeks before the battles which dramatically worsened the bitter split between their two factions.

Fatah official Azzam Al-Ahmad said the reconciliation agreement would be signed at the Arab League headquarters, and that Palestinian factions would also be present.

Al-Ahmad headed a Fatah delegation in talks with Hamas, which on Wednesday resulted in a surprise unity deal.

The secular Fatah party which dominates the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority and Gaza's Islamist rulers agreed to form a transitional government ahead of elections to take place within the next year.

The announcement sparked a firestorm of criticism from Israel, which said it would damage chances for peace, but Abbas said the interim government would not dictate policy when it came to negotiations with Israel, which would remain the mandate of the Palestine Liberation Organization that he heads.

Tensions between Fatah and Hamas date back to the start of limited Palestinian self-rule in the early 1990s. They worsened dramatically in 2007 when Hamas forces ousted Fatah from the Gaza Strip after a week of deadly clashes, cleaving the Palestinian territories into hostile rival camps.

Revolutions overthrowing unrepresentative regimes across the Middle East took root for Palestinians in a call end the rivalry, and since March 15, protesters demanding Palestinian unity came onto the streets, camped out in public squares, and held hunger strikes.

Breaking News.Hamas official told AlaqsaTV that the Hamas leadership did not intend to leave the Syrian capital, and denied reports that Egypt had agreed to open an official Hamas office in Cairo,But the spokesman said Hamas suffer from problems in Damascus.