| Saturday, February 10, 2007 |
| Hamas, Fatah agree to form coalition govt |
Hamas and Fatah, the rival Palestinian factions, have agreed to form a coalition government.
However, there was no immediate guarantee that the agreement would be sufficient to lift an international boycott on the Palestinian government.
After two days of talks in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the leaders of Hamas and Fatah agreed on a list of ministers for a new national-unity Cabinet and called for a halt to factional fighting that has claimed over 100 lives in the occupied territories in recent weeks.
The deal, which Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas described as "a new era," appeared to have averted a slide into civil war.
Hamas, the Islamic militant movement voted into government a year ago, apparently had the upper hand in the agreement. Ismail Haniyeh, Prime Minister and Hamas leader, will stay on.
An independent candidate, selected by Hamas and approved by Fatah, will be given the key position of Interior Minister, which includes control of the thousands of security forces.
Israel and the quartet of Middle East negotiators -- the European Union, the United Nations, the United States, and Russia -- had insisted that, in order to lift an international boycott, the new government had to meet three conditions: recognition of Israel, renunciation of violence, and acceptance of previous peace deals.
Before the Mecca agreement, it appeared that both Israel and the quartet were reluctant to accept any flexibility on those requirements. However, there was apparently no deal for recognition of Israel; it was agreed only to "respect" past peace agreements.
The new government would reportedly follow an agreement known as the prisoners' document, a programme drawn up jointly by jailed Fatah and Hamas figures in June 2006. It called for a Palestinian state within the land captured by Israel in 1967, with its capital in Jerusalem, and for continued "resistance" to Israel within the occupied territories.
The agreement stopped short of recognisng Israel, but said Hamas should work towards joining the Palestine Liberation Organisation, currently a Fatah-dominated umbrella group which has formally recognized Israel.
Shortly after the agreement was announced, a spokeswoman of the Israeli government said Israel still expected a Palestinian government to meet the conditions set by the quartet of negotiators. She did not say whether her government accepted the deal reached in Mecca.
The Mecca pact comes 10 days before US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is due to arrive in Jerusalem to chair a meeting between Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Abbas.
Israel's rejection of the new Palestinian government's programme could endanger the chance of restarting peace talks.Labels: International Politics |
| posted by a correspondent @ 11:28 PM |
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