RAMALLAH, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- A Palestinian official on Monday accused the Hamas movement of trying to introduce itself to the international community as an alternative to the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).

Member of the PLO Executive Committee, Hanan Ashrawi, told Voice of Palestine radio that Hamas "is trying to open dialogue with the United States and European countries by several means in order to gain legitimacy and the recognition of the United States. "

She pointed out that the PLO recognizes the Hamas as part of the general Palestinian political system. "Hamas should behave like part of the Palestinian system as a whole and not as an alternative to the PLO," Ashrawi added.

The Palestinian people "do not de-legitimize Hamas, yet Hamas behavior turned the international positions against it," Ashrawi said.

On Sunday, Gaza's Hamas rulers said they had sent a letter to the U.S. administration, seeking a contact channel with Washington, which classifies the Islamic movement as a terrorist organization.

In a statement, the secretariat-general of the Hamas government said the letter urged the U.S. "to open a mutual dialogue and end the double standards the U.S. administration uses in dealing with the Palestinian cause."

The letter also demanded that the Obama administration "lift its veto on Palestinian reconciliation." Hamas accuses Washington of pressuring President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah movement not to reconcile with Hamas, though Fatah had accepted an Egyptian plan to bury the hatchet with the Islamic movement.