Egypt, a key U.S. ally in the Middle East, is trying to avoid clashing with Washington over its very different approach to dealing with the Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip, an Israeli expert said here on Thursday.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is hosting a summit between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas on Monday. Jordan's King Abdullah II will be there as well.

But Mubarak is seeking a different outcome than the one discussed earlier this week between Olmert and President Bush, said Dr. Yoram Meital, chairman of the Chaim Herzog Center for Middle East Studies and Diplomacy at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.

President Bush and Olmert met this week and reiterated their support for Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, his Fatah faction and the new government Abbas installed following the violent Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip last week.

Olmert has described the Hamas takeover as a "new opportunity" for Israel to engage in peace negotiations with Abbas while isolating Hamas.

"Egypt is not speaking the same language as Israel and the U.S.," Meital said in Jerusalem on Thursday.

Thai Attorney General Phatchara Yutithamdamrong said Monday that he would seek a criminal trial against former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his wife regarding a 2003 land purchase by Pojamarn Shinawatra from the government-directed Financial Institutions Development Fund. Yutithamdamrong also recommended the seizure of the land, valued at approximately $23.7 million USD. The announcement came as the Assets Examination Committee (AEC) ordered the additional seizure of $245.7 million USD of Thaksin's family assets, saying that the funds had been shifted from accounts seized last week shortly before the seizure was ordered. The previous seizure amounted to approximately $1.6 billion USD, held by Thaksin and members of his family. Thaksin made his fortune after founding what is now the Shin Corporation in 1983, and is estimated to be worth in excess of $2 billion.

The AEC recommended that charges be brought against Pojamarn and other members of Thaksin's family in February for tax evasion in the sale of Shin Corporation stock. Investigators have been having difficulty linking Thaksin to corruption, which was the stated reason for last year's bloodless coup. Thaksin has complained that the charges against him amount to a persecution, and has called the AEC findings "libelous, unfair, and unethical."

South Korean electronics major LG Electronics today said that it had filed a patent lawsuit against Japan's Hitachi in a prolonged tit-for-tat legal battle over plasma display panel (PDP) technology.

In a statement, LG Electronics said, the lawsuit was filed with the US District Court of Texas against Hitachi, its US affiliate and its PDP unit.

LG's suit is a counter suit following similar action by Hitachi. The counter suit accuses the Japanese firms of infringing LG Electronics' seven PDP-related patents and seeks a court injunction against them and monetary compensation.

"Intellectual property is one of LG's essential assets, which we will always uncompromisingly protect," said Jeong Hwan-Lee, executive vice president and head of its intellectual property centre.

"Japanese firms are filing more and more lawsuits as competition in the global display market has increased dramatically. We will proactively deal with the situation based on our patented and patent-applied-for technologies," he added.

LG and Hitachi have had inconclusive talks aimed at settling the patent dispute since 2005. Hitachi filed suit against LG Electronics at the US court for patent infringement on similar technologies in April, claiming they were Hitachi's proprietary technology.

LG Electronics said it holds some 2,300 international PDP-related patents and has applied for another 6,000. It is the world's largest producer of CDMA handsets, air conditioners, optical storage products and DVD players.

The U.S. strengthened its offer of support for President Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday, telling him an international aid embargo against the Palestinians would end as soon as he forms a new government without Hamas, aides to Abbas said.

The United States and European Union have backed Abbas in light of the upheaval that has remade the Palestinian territories. Jacob Walles, the American consul-general in Jerusalem, said Saturday he expects Washington to lift the 15-month economic embargo.

"I expect that we are going to be engaged with this government," Walles said. "I expect that early next week. There will be some announcements in Washington, specifically about our assistance and about the financial regulations."

The Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip and the Fatah-controlled West Bank have effectively become separate political entities, endangering the Palestinian dream of forming an independent state in the two territories.

Hundreds of Fatah gunmen stormed Hamas-controlled institutions across the West Bank on Saturday, seeking revenge for the Islamic group's violent takeover of the Gaza Strip.

Crowds of Gaza Strip residents converged on the border crossing with Israel desperate to leave the coastal strip, but they found locked gates. Israel, meanwhile, said it would allow food and other basic supplies into Gaza.

In Gaza, the deposed prime minister appointed a new security command to solidify control. Despite Hamas pledges to restore calm, looters attacked several prominent Fatah symbols, including the home of longtime Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

In the West Bank, Abbas' newly appointed Palestinian prime minister, Salam Fayyad, moved forward with plans to form an emergency government. Officials close to Abbas said the government would also include members from Gaza, underscoring Abbas' claim to lead all Palestinians. Hamas, which now claims its own government in Gaza, called the move illegal.

Abbas aide Yasser Abed Rabbo said the new government would be sworn in by Sunday. He also rejected negotiations with Hamas: "There will be no dialogue with killers who carried out field executions in Gaza."

Aides to Abbas said Walles pledged an end to the sanctions once the new Palestinian government is formed, aides to Abbas said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the meeting was closed.

The sanctions were imposed after Hamas, which the U.S. has branded a terrorist group, was elected in January 2006. Hamas and Fatah have been locked in a power struggle since then, especially over which group would control security forces.

A Western diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said all restrictions will be lifted, including those on bank transfers. The EU's statement said the question would be discussed at a meeting of the bloc's foreign ministers in Luxembourg.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack described Fayyad, Abbas' new prime minister, as "a person that the international community has long experience with, has great confidence in."

In Gaza, deposed Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh who has ignored Abbas order firing him replaced security commanders loyal to Abbas, a spokesman aid.

Since seizing control of Gaza on Thursday, Hamas has tried to impose law and order in the area, in part due to fears of retribution in the West Bank. Saturday's attacks on Hamas targets were the most serious so far.

In Ramallah and Nablus, hundreds of Fatah gunmen took over the Palestinian parliament and other Hamas-controlled government offices, and said staffers with ties to Hamas could not return.

At the parliament, several hundred Fatah supporters chanted, "Hamas out," while gunmen climbed on the roof of the building and fired in the air. They also whisked the deputy speaker, a Hamas ally, out of the building, but were prevented from pushing him into a car.

Many government employees tied to Hamas, apparently fearing they would come to harm, never came to work Saturday, the start of the work week in the West Bank.

In Gaza, meanwhile, Hamas forces on Saturday blew up the home of a prominent Fatah family, collected rivals' weapons and deployed hundreds of security men at strategic locations.

"They are going to provide the people with all the security they have lacked in the past few years due to the bad behavior of some corrupt agents," said Abu Hilal, the Hamas spokesman.

With Hamas firmly in control, Gaza City's streets largely returned to normal Saturday. Outdoor markets were alive, and traffic jams clogged the streets a dramatic contrast to the street battles seen earlier in the week. Still, jittery residents stocked up on flour and other basic supplies in fear of further violence.

Hamas units took up positions at former Fatah security buildings. At the damaged headquarters of the Preventive Security Agency, Hamas said it found the bodies of seven people it claimed were executed by the pro-Fatah force before it was routed.

Despite Hamas' pledges of calm, looting persisted at key Fatah symbols, including the home of Arafat, the founder of Fatah who ruled the Palestinians for 40 years.

Witnesses said gunmen stormed the house early Saturday, taking furniture, including a bed, and three cars. Hamas security forces later arrived and locked the house. The home had been empty since Arafat left Gaza in 2001. He died in 2004. The witnesses declined to be identified, fearing for their safety.

Despite Hamas promises of amnesty, fearful Fatah supporters converged on the Erez border crossing with Israel in hopes of traveling to the West Bank. One young man shouted "bye, bye, Gaza," and waved as he walked through the covered walkway that leads to the Israeli side.

Israeli government spokesman Shlomo Dror said only a small number of "humanitarian cases" were allowed to pass. At the same time, hundreds of people looted police positions on the Palestinian side of Erez, and at one point Israeli troops fired in the air to keep the crowd at bay. The looters walked off with furniture and scrap metal.

North Korea lambasted U.S. efforts to build a missile defense system Friday and vowed to increase its "self-defense deterrent," a term that the communist regime usually uses to refer to its nuclear program.

"The U.S. is claiming that it is building a global missile defense system to protect against missile attacks from our nation and Iran. This is a childish pretext," the North's ministry said in a statement carried by the country's official Korean Central News Agency.

"We cannot but further strengthen our self-defense deterrent if (an) arms race intensifies because of the U.S. maneuvers," it said.

The North Korean warning came as Russia seemed reluctant to respond to U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates' assertion Thursday that the Bush administration will not replace its plan for a missile defense system in Eastern Europe with Moscow's counterproposal for a radar site in Azerbaijan.

Gates met briefly with Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov, and told reporters afterward that the hotly debated missile defense plan simply did not come up.

"I guess I would have to say, honestly, I was somewhat surprised," said Gates, who is attending a two-day meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels, Belgium. "I don't know how to read it, to be honest."

The silence came after other Russian officials blasted the U.S. plan, and warned that the new sites could be targeted by Russian missiles.

Gates said he did not bring the matter up in his session with Serdyukov because, "I felt I'd been pretty explicit yesterday in the session so I didn't feel the need to." Instead, Gates said, they talked about plans for an upcoming meeting between President Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

During a session on Thursday, Gates told the allies that the U.S. will proceed with its plans for a radar system in the Czech Republic to watch for missile threats and 10 interceptor rockets in Poland to shoot down any missiles.

And he flatly dismissed any notion that Russia's push for joint use of a radar station in Azerbaijan could replace the broader U.S. plan.

He also said he doubts that there could be any agreement with the Russians by next month, when Mr. Bush meets Putin at Kennebunkport, Maine.

"I was very explicit in the (NATO) meeting that we saw the Azeri radar as an additional capability, that we intended to proceed with the X-Band radar in the Czech Republic," Gates told reporters Thursday.

Russian officials earlier this week called for a freeze on the U.S. plan, arguing that it would undermine Russia's nuclear deterrent. And they reportedly issued threats against the planned sites in Poland and the Czech Republic.

Meanwhile, NATO ordered its military experts to draw up plans for a possible short-range missile defense system to protect nations on the alliance's southern flank that would be left exposed by proposed U.S. anti-missile units in central Europe.

According to U.S. and NATO officials, the addition of the European bases to anti-missile installations in North America would protect most of Europe from the threat of long-range attack from Iran or elsewhere in the Middle East. But it would leave Turkey, Greece, Bulgaria and parts of Romania exposed.

To fill that gap, NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said NATO experts would produce a report by February on short-range anti-missile defenses "that can be bolted on to the overall missile defense system as it would be installed by the United States."

Russia has threatened to retaliate against the U.S. plans by pulling out of a key arms control treaty and pointing warheads at Europe for the first time since the Cold War. However, at last week's G-8 summit, Putin seemed to take a more open approach, suggesting Russia could cooperate with the West on an anti-missile radar base in Azerbaijan.