Abbas to Call for Formation of Unity Government

Thursday, 17 November 2011

Abbas to Call for Formation of Unity Government

Dweik: Mishaal-Abbas meeting last chance for reconciliation

[ 16/11/2011 - 11:22 AM ]

AL-KHALIL, (PIC)-- Speaker of the Palestinian legislative council Dr. Aziz Dweik has said that the meeting between Hamas leader Khaled Mishaal and PA chief and Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas is the last opportunity for reconciliation.

He told Quds Press on Wednesday that the meeting would be dedicated to signing a paper for implementing the Egyptian-sponsored reconciliation agreement, describing it as a step to break the ice between the two parties.

Dweik advocated adequate preparations to prepare the atmosphere before the meeting, adding that the ongoing Fatah-controlled Ramallah authority’s detention streak in lines of Hamas supporters in the West Bank was an attempt by certain quarters within that authority to foil the Abbas-Mishaal meeting.

Abbas to Call for Formation of Unity Government

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is scheduled to call for the formation of a Palestinian unity government Wednesday, a PA official said Tuesday.

The official said that Abbas would issue the call during a speech marking the anniversary of Palestinian “independence day.”

Abbas will call for the formation of a unity government dominated by independent figures as part of an agreement between his Fatah faction and Hamas, the official told The Jerusalem Post.

The official would neither confirm nor deny reports that Prime Minister Salam Fayyad would be excluded from the new PA government.

Fatah and Hamas have been holding secret talks in Cairo in the past few weeks in a bid to reach agreement on the formation of a Palestinian unity government and new presidential and parliamentary elections in the Palestinian territories.

The discussions came on the eve of a planned meeting between Abbas and Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal in the Egyptian capital next week.

Azzam al-Ahmed, a senior Fatah official in the West Bank, revealed Tuesday that he had held a secret meeting in Cairo with Musa Abu Marzouk, the Syrian-based deputy head of the Hamas “political bureau.” Ahmed said that he had held several meetings with Abu Marzouk “in order to create a positive atmosphere” ahead of the Abbas-Mashaal summit.

The Fatah official voiced optimism regarding the planned summit’s prospects of success, saying the two parties had made “good preparations” ahead of the meeting.

He said Abbas was planning to propose holding new elections in March next year.

Abu Marzouk: Abbas-Mishaal meeting in ten days

[ 15/11/2011 - 11:40 AM ]

CAIRO, (PIC)-- Deputy political bureau chairman of Hamas Dr. Mousa Abu Marzouk has said that the meeting between Khaled Mishaal, the movement’s political bureau chairman, and Mahmoud Abbas, the PA chief and Fatah leader, would most probably take place on 25 November.

Abu Marzouk told London-based Al-Hayat newspaper on Monday that the reconciliation and political issues would top the agenda of the meeting.

He said that solving the stumbling block of the government would speed up the implementation of the reconciliation on the ground.

The Hamas leader said that Abbas was the one impeding progress of the reconciliation by insisting on Salam Fayyad as the premier of the transitional, unity government.