Egypt will urge the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) to recognize Israel's right to exist after the group's victory in the Jan. 25 Palestinian legislative elections, a senior Egyptian official said on Wednesday.

"Nobody will talk to them before they stop violence, recognize Israel and accept (previous Palestinian-Israeli) agreements, including the road map," Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman told reporters.

Suleiman, who has frequently played a mediator role between Palestinians and Israel, made the remarks following a meeting between Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and visiting Palestinian Leader Mahmoud Abbas.

Hamas won the Jan. 25 Palestinian parliamentary election by garnering 74 seats out of the 132 parliament seats up for grabs, and has thus been given a mandate to form a new government.

Israel has said it would not deal with a new Palestinian government led by a group sworn to its destruction.

Abbas arrived in Cairo late Tuesday after meeting Jordan's King Abdullah II who urged Hamas to make peace with Israel.

Mubarak will also meet Israeli Foreign Minister Livni Tzipi later Wednesday as part of his efforts to push forward the long- stalled Mideast peace process.

Meanwhile, Palestinian officials at the Rafah crossing on the Egypt-Gaza border said a delegation of Hamas officials had left the Gaza Strip for Egypt for talks with Egyptian officials.

Source: Xinhua