Palestinian mainstream Fatah and Hamas movements have reached an
initial deal on portfolios of the new Palestinian coalition
government, local independent Maan news agency reported on
Tuesday.
According to the report, the deal authorizes 10 portfolios for
Hamas (Islamic Resistance Movement) and 6 for Fatah in the upcoming
government of national unity.
Four ministries would be shared between the other political
groups while the remaining five portfolios would be commissioned
for independent ministers.
Maan quoted a undisclosed sources as saying that Mohammed
Shubair is likely confirmed to be the new prime minister.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas would arrive in Gaza next
Thursday, said the sources, adding his visit aims at adding final
touches to the formation of the new government.
However, there was no immediate confirmation of Abbas' office in
Ramallah about the news.
Abbas is currently visiting Jordan and will head to Egypt later
Wednesday to hold talks with Jordanian and Egyptian officials on
the latest developments in the Palestinian territories and in the
region as a whole.
Under the emerging coalition agreement, foreign policy would
handled by Abbas It was unclear whether this division of labor
would satisfy Western demands. Officials from the "Quartet" of
Mideast mediators the US, European Union, Russia and the United
Nations are scheduled to meet in Egypt today.
Meanwhile, Hamas said the movement won't recognize Israel even
after a new national unity government takes power. But it suggested
the emerging coalition would be free to stake out a more moderate
position.
Hamas apparently hopes this ambiguity will allow it to preserve
its anti-Israel ideology but open the door to an easing of
crippling international sanctions, imposed to pressure the current,
Hamas-led government to moderate. Despite the sanctions, Hamas has
repeatedly rejected international demands to recognize Israel,
renounce violence and respect past peace accords.
Moussa Abu Marzouk, a top official in Hamas' exiled leadership
in Syria, called the international demands to recognize Israel
"illegal and illegitimate." But he suggested Hamas would not set
the tone for the next government's policies on Israel.
"It's not Hamas that will pronounce on this subject," he said in
a telephone interview from Syria.
Abbas's aides say he will insist on a political program that
explicitly endorses interim peace deals with Israel and a two-state
solution to the conflict. Some Hamas officials have said the new
government's platform might be left vague, but it is unclear
whether that will satisfy Israel and the United States.
(China Daily, Xinhua News Agency November 15, 2006)
