A senior Hamas leader Sunday said the Islamic movement is close to signing the Egyptian-brokered reconciliation deal with rival Fatah, Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.
   During a press conference following a meeting with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal in Riyadh, Hamas political leader Khaled Meshaal said Hamas is "in the final stages" to sign the agreement, Xinhua reported.
   he said "We want the agreement to conform to what we have agreed with our brothers in Fatah and the other Palestinian factions...We will then be ready to sign it in Cairo," according to the report.
   The Hamas leader dubbed the current inter-Palestinian conflict as an evil, saying he wishes it would be ended soon.
   The Palestinians have been bitterly divided since June 2007, when years-old tensions mounted into deadly street battles in Gaza and ended with Hamas seizing control of the coastal enclave and driving out Abbas' Fatah movement to the West Bank.
   Egypt has hosted several rounds of inter-Palestinian dialogue since February 2009 to iron out their rifts. In October, Egypt proposed a 25-page reconciliation pact to end the current Palestinian split, urging the two feuding parties to ink it.
   Fatah movement accepted the Egyptian-drafted agreement, while Hamas said it needs some observations on the proposal. Egypt has to postpone the signing for several times until now.