Abbas urged to back unity government

Mon, 09 Mar 2009 09:48:45 GMT | PressTV

Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad.

The resigned Palestinian Premier Salam Fayyad has urged Acting Palestinian Authority Chief to back formation of a national unity government.

Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, who submitted his written resignation to Abbas recently, asserted that the Palestinian Authority should back a unity government of both Hamas and Fatah for unifying the two 'extremes' of Palestinian politics, International Middle East Media Center reported.

Fayyad says the resignation of his government, effective at the end of this month, is aimed to facilitate an agreement for a National Unity Government in the Palestinian territories.

The resignation came as representatives of Fatah and Hamas were holding talks in the Egyptian capital to achieve a unity government.

The government would be based on the outcome of the Cairo national dialogue.

On Saturday, Mahmoud Abbas asked Fayyad to remain at his post until the internal Palestinian talks achieve positive results, including an agreement for legislative and presidential elections.

Fayyad on Sunday also emphasized on the fact that the ongoing Israeli settlement activities on the occupied West Bank, pose a stumbling block in the path of regional peace.

Israeli forces illegally destroy Palestinian houses in Jerusalem (al-Quds), widely viewed as the capital of Palestinians' future state, to build Jewish settlements.

Israel has in recent months announced the construction of hundreds of new Jewish homes in the territory in breach of the United Nations Security Council resolutions.

At the US-hosted Annapolis Conference, Israel pledged to halt all settlement activities in East al-Quds and West Bank.

Palestinians to form unity government

Thu, 26 Feb 2009 19:13:47 GMT | PressTV

Reconciliation talks in Cairo lead to an agreement between rival Palestinian factions to establish a unity government by the end of March.

The factions agreed to form several committees that will pave the way for a unity government, an official with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Jamil al-Majdalawi, told AFP on Thursday.

"The committees will end their work and a Palestinian unity government will be formed by the end of March," he said.

The revelation was confirmed by deputy leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Mohammed al-Hindi.

A Palestinian national dialogue opened in Cairo on Thursday under Egyptian auspices with hopes that a dozen Palestinian groups can agree on a new government and reunite the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

Fatah and Hamas agreed to pursue confidence-building measures in order to resolve the fate of prisoners captured by both sides and to halt the exchange of accusations between the two.

Fatah and Hamas have long been rivals but their feud boiled over in 2007 when Hamas fighters took control of the Gaza Strip.

Egypt had initially asked for the Palestinian reconciliation dialogue in November. Hamas, however, pulled out of the talks at the fateful moment in protest at Fatah's continued detentions of Hamas members in the West Bank.

The Palestinian unity negotiations were relaunched by Egypt following the recent Israeli onslaught on the impoverished coastal sliver of Gaza.

Over 1,300 Gazans -- mostly women and children -- were killed during the military operations launched on December 27. Buildings along with the infrastructure were also devastated.