Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haneya said on Thursday that
he would meet President Mahmoud Abbas later in the day over Abbas'
appointment of a close associate to head security forces
responsible for Gaza border crossings.
The severe financial shortages that the Hamas cabinet is facing
will also be discussed, Haneya said at a press conference.
In a presidential decree issued late on Wednesday, Abbas
appointed Rasheed Abu Shbak, a senior member of Abbas' Fatah
movement, as head of internal security services in charge of Gaza
border crossings.
European monitors are currently deployed at the key Rafah
crossing on the Gaza-Egypt border.
Speaking at the first meeting of his Hamas cabinet on Wednesday,
Haneya said that the Palestinian treasury was empty.
Hamas, or the Islamic Resistance Movement, defeated Abbas'
long-dominant Fatah movement in the January legislative elections.
The new Hamas-led cabinet was formally sworn in last week.
The Hamas cabinet is facing severe financial shortages as Israel
halted the monthly transfer of tax revenues and the Quartet of key
Mideast mediators-- the United States, the United Nations, the
European Union and Russia-- threatened to cut crucial aid to the
Hamas cabinet unless the group renounces violence, recognizes
Israel's right to exist and accept previous deals including the
interim peace accords.
(Xinhua News Agency April 7, 2006)
