(Adds Hamas comment, background) CAIRO, Feb 18 (Reuters) - Egyptian-sponsored reconciliation talks between Palestinian groups have been delayed to allow for more consultations, Egyptian state news agency MENA said on Wednesday. The talks were to start in Egypt on Feb. 22. The agency quoted a senior Egyptian official as saying the delay would be for a "brief period". It did not give more details. Ending divisions between the Islamist group Hamas and the rival Fatah group of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is seen as key to ending an Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip, enforced since Hamas won a Palestinian parliamentary election in 2006. Hamas official Taher al-Nono said Egypt delayed the talks because Israel refused to agree to an 18-month truce with the Islamist group. The Israeli government decided on Wednesday against lifting its border blockade on the Gaza Strip until Hamas agrees to the release of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. "The Egyptian government has delayed the dialogue session because of the recent intransigent Israeli positions regarding the issue of a period of calm," Nono told Reuters. Egypt and Hamas have insisted that talks on the exchange of prisoners should not be linked to any possible truce. But Hamas has said it will accept a prison release including Shalit in parallel with a long-term truce agreement. (Additional reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi in Gaza, Writing by Alaa Shahine; Editing by Angus MacSwan)
An Israeli walks in front of a billboard calling for the release of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in Tel Aviv February 18, 2009. Shalit was captured in a cross-border raid by ...
