A senior leader of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) said on Sunday that Hamas looks forward to forming a national coalition government following the Palestinian legislative elections due on Jan. 25.

Ismail Haneya, senior Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip, said that the national coalition government will include members of all the factions that win the parliamentary ballot.

Haneya, one of Hamas candidates for the legislative elections, said that a national coalition government will ensure that the new Palestinian Legislative Council will become an effective and accountable parliament.

Meanwhile, the Hamas leader also said that the participation ofall Palestinian factions and the presence of international monitors will guarantee that the upcoming elections are to be held in a transparent and free atmosphere.

In addition, Haneya said Hamas would abduct Israeli soldiers and exchange them for Palestinians imprisoned in Israeli jails if the Jewish state refuses in the future to release the over 8,000 Palestinian prisoners it currently holds.

Earlier, Mahmoud al-Zahar, another senior Hamas leader, asserted that even if Hamas wins in the upcoming elections and joins the parliament, the group will not open peace negotiations with Israel.

Hamas, sworn to Israel's destruct, has fully geared up for the January elections. The group is widely expected to do well in its first parliamentary bid, posing a grave challenge to the long dominant Fatah movement now led by President Mahmoud Abbas.

(Source: Xinhua)