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Mahmoud Abbas to head interim Palestinian government Mahmoud Abbas to head interim Palestinian government
(40 minutes later)
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has said he will head a Palestinian unity government after a second meeting with rival Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal.Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has said he will head a Palestinian unity government after a second meeting with rival Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal.
The interim government is to prepare polls in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.The interim government is to prepare polls in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Mr Abbas and Mr Meshaal have been holding talks in Qatar over the reconciliation deal reached in April 2011 and who would head the government.Mr Abbas and Mr Meshaal have been holding talks in Qatar over the reconciliation deal reached in April 2011 and who would head the government.
Correspondents say the issue has been one of the main stumbling blocks to implementing the April agreement.Correspondents say the issue has been one of the main stumbling blocks to implementing the April agreement.
They say it may now be too late to organise May elections. Fatah and Hamas were supposed to put forward an independent figure, but after failing to agree, they have come up with what many will see as something of a fudge: Mahmoud Abbas will now serve as both president and prime minister, says the BBC's Jon Donnison in Ramallah.
Mr Abbas leads the Palestinian nationalist movement Fatah. Hamas, which is strongly Islamist, had previously rejected such an idea.
The government will be made up of technocrats and independents, reports say.The government will be made up of technocrats and independents, reports say.
The reconciliation deal sought to end more than four years of separate governments in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip and the West Bank, areas of which are governed by Mr Abbas's Western-backed Palestinian Authority. Mr Abbas has said the two sides are serious about political unity.
As part of the deal, an interim unity government was to prepare for presidential and parliamentary elections. Israel, which regards Hamas as a terrorist organisation, is strongly opposed to Palestinian reconciliation.
May polls?
The April deal sought to end more than four years of separate governments in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip and the West Bank, areas of which are governed by Mr Abbas's Western-backed Palestinian Authority.
As part of the agreement, an interim unity government was to prepare for presidential and parliamentary elections.
But Hamas strongly opposed Mr Abbas's initial choice of Salam Fayyad, the current prime minister of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank.But Hamas strongly opposed Mr Abbas's initial choice of Salam Fayyad, the current prime minister of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank.
Correspondents say it may now be too late to organise May elections.