GAZA/MOSCOW, November 5 (RIA Novosti) - Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas may decide against running in the January presidential elections, his spokesman said on Thursday.

"Abbas may decline to run again for the post of Palestinian National Authority [PNA] leader after the peace process negotiations with Israel and talks on Palestinian reconciliation reached a deadlock," Nabil Abu Rdeneh was cited as saying by Palestinian news agency Maan.

A document to reconcile the two largest Palestinian factions, Hamas and Fatah, was put forward by Cairo in early September. In the summer of 2007, Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip and pushed Fatah out of the enclave.

Hamas said Abbas's call for the elections was illegal as it had not been agreed upon with the group, and the president's term formally expired in January 2009.

In October, Hamas said Palestinians in the Gaza Strip must not take part in the January 24 elections scheduled by Abbas or face persecution.