Abbas agrees unity cabinet with Hamas
Source: Reuters
(Adds Livni, White House comments, paragraphs 7, 11) By Nidal al-Mughrabi GAZA, March 15 (Reuters) - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas agreed on Thursday on the make-up of a unity government with Hamas, but Israel called on the world community to shun it because its platform did not recognise the Jewish state. A draft of the platform states that "resistance is a legitimate right for the Palestinian people" and authorises Abbas to handle negotiations with Israel so long as he brings any agreement to a parliamentary or popular vote. Israel said it would boycott the new cabinet as proposed by Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas and accepted by Abbas, just as it has shunned its Hamas-run predecessor. It said the government's platform was proof it would not recognise Israel, renounce violence and abide by interim peace deals as demanded by the Quartet of Middle East mediators. Haniyeh told reporters the government list would be submitted to parliament for a confidence vote on Saturday. Palestinians hope the deal will end fighting between Abbas's secular Fatah group and Islamist Hamas that has claimed more than 90 Palestinian lives since December, as well as ease a crippling Western aid embargo of the Palestinian Authority. "When ... a new Palestinian government is formed which does not meet the conditions of Israel and the international community the situation becomes no simpler, we will have to insist that the conditions which (were laid down) will be met," Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said. "We hope that the international community will stand steadfast behind its own principles and refuse to give legitimacy or recognition to this extreme government," Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said. An Israeli political source said Israel would maintain direct contact with Abbas to "ensure humanitarian coordination and strengthen moderate elements in the Palestinian Authority". Washington promised to continue to work with Abbas but reserved judgment on the unity government. "We will wait until the government is actually in place and have an understanding of what their platform will be before making any final judgment" U.S. State Department Sean McCormack said. White House spokesman Tony Snow said the new Palestinian government would have to continue to meet the Quartet conditions. "That has been our position and it will continue to be our position," Snow said in Washington. Senior U.S. officials have told Abbas and his aides that the embargo will remain until the Quartet's conditions are met, but there were signs that some European countries want to ease it. Moscow welcomed the formation of the new government. "We hope that the newly formed Palestinian government and its activity will become a weighty factor in stabilising the situation in Palestinian territories and putting an end to conflict," Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mikhail Kamynin said. QUEST FOR INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT Haniyeh said the new government enjoyed Arab support, while the European Union had showed "understanding". "No doubt the American administration and Israel have a different position but as Palestinians we will do what is required to reinforce national unity, end tensions and lift the siege," he said.France said the new government heralded a "new page" in relations with the international community, but linked future cooperation to Palestinian efforts to halt violence against Israel and secure the release of a captured Israeli soldier. In a letter to his new counterpart Ziad Abu Amr, French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said that if Corporal Gilad Shalit were freed, it would "create more favourable conditions for reestablishing cooperative relations with the international community and relaunching a dynamic for peace". Diplomats in Brussels said the EU might funnel funds through the designated finance minister, Salam Fayyad, a Western-backed reformer, as a first step towards restoring direct assistance. Another possibility being studied is broadening an existing mechanism for delivering purely humanitarian relief to include direct payments to the Palestinian government, they said. Fayyad, who was finance minister from 2002-2005 when Fatah controlled the government, initiated financial reforms and fought corruption. (Additional reporting by Mohammed Assadi)
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