A senior Hamas official said a planned reconciliation with Fatah will be deeply threatened if the rival Palestinian movement insists Western-backed economist Salam Fayyad stays on as prime minister.

President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah thinks keeping Fayyad as prime minister is key to maintaining the flow of hundreds of millions of dollars in Western aid.

Hamas sees Fayyad as too close to the West.

Senior Hamas official Moussa Abu Marzouk was quoted Wednesday by the Palestinian daily Felesteen as saying Abbas' position is "unacceptable and unreasonable."

He says sticking with Fayyad will bring the Palestinians back to the "pre-reconciliation era."

The rival factions agreed to reconcile in May, nearly four years after Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip.