Palestinian security forces of President Mahmoud Abbas arrested 13 Hamas members in West Bank in an ongoing crackdown against the Islamic movement, Hamas said on Wednesday.

The arrests, by the forces loyal to Abbas of Fatah movement, took place in the West Bank cities of Nablus, Salfeet, Jenin and Hebron, a Hamas statement sent to reporters said.

The arrests fuel more tension between rival Hamas and Fatah and complicate any effort to reconcile the two movements. The two movements might resume dialogue early next month, according to well-informed Palestinian sources.

Hamas thwarted an Egyptian initiative to hold an inter- Palestinian reconciliation dialogue after it said it can't sit with Fatah while its supporters and members in West Bank face a Fatah-led clampdown.

The two rival sides have been trading politically-motivated abductions against their dissidents since Hamas routed pro-Abbas forces and seized Gaza Strip in mid June 2007.

Hamas says it released 17 Fatah prisoners in Gaza Strip to pave the way for the dialogue but accuses Fatah of intensifying the crackdown against the Islamists in West Bank.

Egypt called off the dialogue which was scheduled for November 10 and no new date has been set up, yet.

(Xinhua News Agency November 26, 2008)