News, February 2012
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Editorial Note: The following news reports are summaries from original sources. They may also include corrections of Arabic names and political terminology. Comments are in parentheses. |
Abbas to Assume Premiership Until Elections
[ 06/02/2012 - 10:52 AM ]
DOHA, (PIC)--
A well informed Palestinian source has affirmed media reports that a tentative agreement was reached between Fat'h and Hamas in Doha naming Mahmoud Abbas as premier in addition to his current duties as the Palestinian Authority president (until elections).
The source told the PIC reporter on Sunday night that other reconciliation issues were discussed during the meeting between Abbas and Khalid Mesha'al, the Hamas leader, which progressed in a positive atmosphere.
He said, however, no names were chosen for the ministerial portfolios in the expected government.
Political Bureau member of Hamas Ezzet Al-Resheq said that the Abbas-Mesha'al meeting in Doha targeted discussing reconciliation files topped by the government formation, the PLO, political detention, and general elections.
He said in a press release on Sunday that Mesha'al and Abbas opened their first meeting in the presence of Amir of Qatar Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani.
Abbas Recommended to Serve as Interim Government Prime Minister
Monday February 06, 2012 12:39 by William Gibson - IMEMC & Agencies
After recent meetings in Qatar, mediated by Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa,
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas Chief Khalid Mesha'al
announced that Abbas should serve as the Prime Minister of the
Interim-Government, until elections, which will take place later this
year. The two met in Doha, the Qatari capital, despite recent tensions
between the parties, particularly in light of the rejection of a Fat'h
visit to the Gaza Strip by Hamas last month.
During the 2006
elections, Hamas took the majority of seats and votes away from the
previously ruling Fat'h party, resulting in heightened tensions between
the two, and sanctions launched against the Gaza Strip by the
international community.
In 2007, Hamas launched what it called a
‘pre-emptive strike’ against Fat'h, and ousted them from the Gaza Strip,
leading to a tightening of the sanctions and a strengthening of the
siege of the coastal enclave. After four years of the cold-shoulder,
with the West Bank ruled by Fatah, and the Gaza Strip by Hamas, the two
parties decided to reconcile last year. Under the auspices of Egyptian
mediation, they signed the Reconciliation Agreement in May 2011, calling
for a National Unity Government, and new elections.
It is not
confirmed that President Abbas will indeed become the interim Prime
Minister until elections can take place in the near future, according to
Ma’an news, with anonymous sources close to Abbas claiming that the role
is not certain. According to a Hamas website, a source close to the
talks is quoted as saying that Abbas and Mesha'al agreed ‘in principle’
on Sunday that Abbas would head the interim government. Early proclaims
stated that the elections were aimed to take place in May, but this is
also as of yet unconfirmed.
Hamas previously stated
unequivocally that the current Palestinian Authority Prime Minister,
Salam Fayyad, was unacceptable as the interim leader. Whilst many the
international community, (including Israel, the United States and the
European Union) list Hamas as a terrorist organization, having Abbas as
the Prime Minister will certainly improve its credibility, and serve to
counter-balance the effect of having Hamas in government.
Abbas to head new Palestinian unity government
Rival Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas agreed on Monday to form a unity government with Mahmoud Abbas in the role of prime minister, a senior Palestinian official said.
REUTERS - Rival Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas agreed at a meeting in Qatar on Monday to form a unified Palestinian government for the West Bank and Gaza headed by Palestinian President and Fatah chief Mahmoud Abbas, a senior Palestinian official said.
Abbas and Khaled Meshaal, head of the Islamist Hamas, said they were serious about implementing the accord almost a year after the two sides signed a reconciliation deal that languished for months and was reaffirmed only in November.
"We are serious, both Fatah and Hamas, in healing the wounds and ending the chapter of division and reinforcing and accomplishing reconciliation," Meshaal said in remarks televised live by Al Jazeera from Qatar.
He said the Palestinians wanted to accomplish unity and move forward "to resist the enemy (Israel) and achieve our national goals."
Abbas, head of the secular Fatah organisation, promised that "this effort will be implemented in the shortest time possible".
Fatah and Hamas have been bitter rivals since the Islamist movement seized control of the Gaza Strip in 2007 after a brief war and kicked out Abbas's Fatah-led Palestinian Authority.
The senior Palestinian official said that under Monday's agreement, Abbas would assume the role of prime minister, replacing Western-backed economist Salam Fayyad. It was not immediately clear if Fayyad would be a member of the new government or when it would be formed.
The deal provided for a government of independent technocrats to oversee preparations for elections later this year. A vote had been mooted in May but the Palestinian election commission says more time will be needed.
The last presidential and parliamentary elections were held in 2006. Hamas won the parliamentary vote.
The Fatah-led Palestinian Authority supports a negotiated peace with Israel that would give Palestinians an independent state in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and in Gaza, co-existing with the Jewish state. Hamas is officially sworn to the destruction of Israel but is open to an indefinite ceasefire.
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