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Mahmoud Abbas to head interim Palestinian government Mahmoud Abbas to head interim Palestinian government
(about 1 hour 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.
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. For months, Fatah and Hamas have been trying to decide on the name of a new prime minister. That person was supposed to be an independent figure. But after failing to agree, they have come up with what many will see as something of a fudge.
Mr Abbas leads the Palestinian nationalist movement Fatah. Hamas, which is strongly Islamist, had previously rejected such an idea. Mahmoud Abbas will now serve as both president and prime minister. Many Palestinians will be unclear about how that will work in practice. Mr Abbas leads the Fatah movement and Hamas had previously rejected the idea.
Mr Abbas says he will form a new unity government to prepare for elections in Gaza and the West Bank later in the year. He said the two sides were serious about political unity. But the fact it took so long to make this decision reflects ongoing serious divisions between the two sides.
Israel and the US, which regard Hamas a terrorist organisation, are strongly against Palestinian reconciliation. But the fact Mr Abbas is pushing ahead anyway indicates his frustration with US mediated peace talks with Israel which have seen little if any progress for more than a year.
The line-up of the government will be announced on 18 February in Cairo, a Fatah official told the AFP news agency.
The government will be made up of technocrats and independents, reports say.The government will be made up of technocrats and independents, reports say.
Mr Abbas has said the two sides are serious about political unity. Mr Abbas says the two sides are serious about political unity.
Israel, which regards Hamas as a terrorist organisation, is strongly opposed to Palestinian reconciliation. Mr Meshaal added: "We inform our people that we are serious about healing the wounds... to reunite our people on the foundation of a political partnership, in order to devote our effort to resisting the [Israeli] occupation.''
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.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.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. The elections were expected to be held in May, but the Palestinian election commission says more time will be needed, Reuters news agency reports.