GAZA CITY - HAMAS announced on Saturday it will boycott next week's Palestinian reconciliation talks, accusing president Mahmud Abbas of detaining hundreds of its members, a spokesman for the Islamists said.

'Hamas decided not to attend the dialogue talks in Egypt. We have informed the Egyptian authorities of our decision,' Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum told AFP.

'Our decision was made because president Mahmud Abbas is continuing to weaken the Hamas movement and he has not released any Hamas detainees in the West Bank,' he said. -- AFP