Talks on forming a Palestinian national unity government resumed
on Thursday, one day after Prime Minister Ismail Haneya of Hamas
suspended the talks, a mediator said.
Mustafa al-Barghouti, an independent lawmaker who mediated
between Hamas and President Mahmoud Abbas, said that "talks on
forming a national unity government resumed and they were in full
swing."
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Al-Barghouti said that progress has been made and most of
controversial points have been settled, adding a general agreement
has been achieved on outlines of a new government and detailed were
under discussions.
He said that a new cabinet would be declared in two weeks.
Earlier, a spokesman for Abbas said that it was very close to
announcing a national unity government.
Haneya suspended the talks in the wake of a deadly Israeli
artillery bombardment that killed 19 Palestinian civilians on the
northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanoun on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert expressed his hope
to meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas following the Beit
Hanoun tragedy.
"(Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud) Abbas will be
surprised how far we are prepared to go. I can offer him a lot,"
said Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to Sky's Adam Boulton in an
interview at the Conference for Export and International
Cooperation in Tel Aviv.
"I am prepared to meet him any time, any place," he said, adding
that he had a lot of respect for Abu Mazen, calling him "very
decent and up-front."
Referring to the shelling on Beit Hanoun, Olmert commented that
it was a tragedy which was resulted from "a technical error."
It was seen as the deadliest tragedy on Palestinian civilians in
the past years, prompting a wave of strong censure across the Arab
world and the international community.
"In the general context it could have been the other way around,
a Qassam could have hit Sderot or Ashqelon. Those shots are aimed
at civilians while we don't mean to harm civilians. But Israel is
strong enough to admit and regret," Olmert was quoted as
saying.
The prime minister also said he had personally looked into the
cause of the lethal bombardment.
"It was a technical failure of the Israeli artillery. I checked
it, and I verified it."
However, he said Israel will continue its military operations in
Gaza as long as Palestinian rocket attacks persist. He said Israel
will do everything it can to avoid similar mistakes, but warned
that further tragedies are possible. "It may happen," he said.
(Xinhua News Agency November 10, 2006)
