Hamas on Saturday called for Palestinian Authority President Salam Fayyad to be put on trial for comments he made in an interview with Haaretz published one day earlier, Army Radio reported.

Fayyad said that he expects a Palestinian state to be established in 2011 and that Palestinian refugees would be absorbed by the new state.

Hamas officials accuse Fayyad of giving up the right of return within the 1948 borders for Palestinian refugees.

"Fayyad is a person without legitimacy, who has stolen control in the West Bank and whose hands are contaminated with the suffering of thousands of martyrs in the West Bank," the officials said.

In the interview, Fayyad said the Palestinians want an independent and sovereign state, emphasizing they are "not looking for a state of leftovers - a Mickey Mouse state."

He also welcomed the Quartet's announcement of two weeks ago in Moscow, which supports the PA's August 2009 plan to establish a state within 24 months.