OSLO, Norway – Mahmoud Abbas called yesterday for an international conference to end his people’s conflict with Israel – with the Palestinian Arab leader sidestepping the Hamas government and leading the talks himself.

The idea, raised in the city that gave its name to the historic 1993 Oslo peace accords, reflects Mr. Abbas’s power struggle with the Islamic terrorist group whose recent election victory has isolated the Palestinian Arabs and reinforced Israel’s determination to draw borders without negotiations, Hamas.

Israel has long opposed international conferences, however, and Hamas refused to comment on the idea.

Mr. Abbas’s use of a foreign capital to float the idea of peace talks was the latest installment in his increasingly contentious and public power struggle with Hamas, which swept his long-ruling Fatah Party from power in January 25 parliamentary elections.

With the West and Israel trying to force Hamas to renounce its violent ideology by cutting vital aid and tax transfers to the Palestinian Authority, Mr. Abbas may be trying to use his international legitimacy to ease the pressure on his increasingly isolated people.

Mr. Abbas said an international group should serve as a broker, possibly the so-called Quartet of America, the European Union, Russia, and the United Nations, which three years ago proposed a peace blueprint that never got off the ground.

“I am ready to immediately resume negotiations with the Israeli government,” Mr. Abbas said in a speech at the Nobel Institute in Oslo. “It is important for me to clarify that the Palestinian legislative elections, which brought Hamas to power, are not an obstacle to negotiations.”

Mr. Abbas said his Palestine Liberation Organization has the mandate to negotiate in the Middle East conflict because it signed all previous agreements with Israel, and that the Hamas government posed no obstacle.

Since its election, Hamas has rebuffed pressure to renounce violence and recognize the Jewish state.

The Arab League secretary-general, Amr Moussa, rejected Mr. Abbas’s proposal, saying: “At one moment or another, perhaps – not now – such an idea could be useful.”

Hamas refused to comment on Mr. Abbas’s call. However, Prime Minister Haniyeh told the Associated Press this month that Mr. Abbas “can move on political fronts and negotiate with whomever he wants. What is important is what will be offered to the Palestinian people.”

Israel reacted to Mr. Abbas’s comments by noting that a formula already exists for resuming peace talks – the Quartet’s “road map” peace plan, which envisions the ultimate establishment of a Palestinian Arab state alongside Israel.

“Israel believes that the best way to move forward is according to the road map, which is the international community’s accepted plan for the Middle East peace process,” an Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman, Mark Regev, said.