In the continuing battle for Muslim votes between Umno and PAS, the presence of Hamas leader Khaled Mesha’al here has now become a bone of contention.

Given that the Palestinian cause is close to the hearts of Muslims in Malaysia, PAS Youth has challenged Umno president Najib Abdul Razak to prove that he is not using the Hamas leader as a tool for political mileage.

Casting aspersion on Umno's invitation to Khaled to attend the party’s recent general assembly in Kuala Lumpur, PAS Youth wondered if this was orchestrated to promote Umno as pro-Islamic and pro-Palestine.

To prove that Umno's intentions are sincere, PAS Youth urged Najib to acknowledge Hamas as the legitimate government of Gaza and to establish diplomatic ties.

"If Umno received the recent visit of Khaled in good faith, the premier should officially acknowledge the Hamas-led government as the lawful government of Gaza.

"Should there be no acknowledgment, this will be received by PAS as Umno's political ploy," said PAS Youth deputy chief Muhammad Khalil Abdul Hadi in a statement.

He said the Malaysian government should have initiated the move when Hamas was condemned as a terrorist organisation by the US and its allies.

The PAS Youth leader added that inviting Khaled to attend the Umno general assembly alone is not sufficient.

Khaled was one of the five panelists at last week's 2013 Umno International Forum, participated by 121 delegates from 25 countries.

It was also reported that Khaled met both Najib as well as opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim.

Najib, during his policy speech at the Umno assembly, also extended an offer to Pakatan Rakyat to hold a dialogue session, which was welcomed by Anwar.

Since the offer came after the meeting between Khaled and the two leaders, it led to speculations that the former might have arbitrated reconciliation talks between the two parties.

However, PKR secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution, who was present when Khaled met Anwar, dismissed this.

"The conversation between Anwar and Khaled was mainly on the Middle East and also on what role Anwar could play in the resolution of matters there.

"We do not think that national reconciliation between Umno-BN and Pakatan needs the mediation of someone from abroad for it to start," he said.