Palestinian designated Prime Minister Ismail Haneya of Hamas said on Monday that the second round of talks to form the Palestinian national unity government to begin.

Haneya made the announcement when he was speaking ahead of a meeting for the Hamas-led caretaker government in Gaza.

He said that the second phase would include discussions to select the new ministers and to agree on the final makeup of the cabinet.

The designated Prime Minister said he ended talks with all Palestinian factions, powers and militant groups and explained latest power-sharing deal reached in Mecca between the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and rival Fatah movement.

According to the deal, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas asked Haneya to form the eleventh government that is hoped to overcome aid embargo applied by the West to the outgoing Hamas administration.

The international sanctions made the government unable to pay for almost 165,000 public servants.

Abbas has just ended an European tour to promote Mecca deal and is scheduled to return to the Palestinian territories in two days after paying a visit to the United Arab Emirates.

Haneya said he would meet Abbas as soon as the latter arrive in Gaza to put the final touches on the expected government and see the results of Abbas' tour.

Salah al-Bardaweel, a senior Hamas lawmaker, told reporters in the day that the new government is likely to be put for parliamentary voting next week.

Also on Monday, Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal arrived in Moscow for talks aimed at lobbying Russia to push for an end to a Western aid embargo on the Palestinian government.

"Our goal is to encourage the international community to start cooperation with the Palestinian government and pressurize Israel to recognize the Palestinian state's right to exist," RIA Novosti news agency quoted him as saying.

"We value Russia's position towards lifting the blockade from which the Palestinian people suffer. We also value Russia's special position in the issues of the Middle East settlement."

Meshaal was due to hold talks with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov today. It was not clear whether he would meet President Vladimir Putin during the visit expected to last until tomorrow.

Russia has taken a softer line on the Islamist Hamas than the United States and the European Union, which along with the United Nations make up the Quartet of Middle East peace negotiators.

"The Quartet should radically review its stance and send its demands to Israel, rather than to the Palestinians," Meshaal said.

The West is boycotting Hamas and the government it formed after an election victory last year, demanding it recognizes Israel, renounces violence and accepts interim peace deals.

Moscow is the last leg of Meshaal's tour, which included Egypt and Iran.

(Xinhua News Agency, China Daily Agencies February 27, 2007)