Abbas meets Hamas on forming new government

By Nidal al-Mughrabi

GAZA (Reuters) – Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas held
his first talks with Hamas on forming a new government on
Saturday after the Islamic militant group’s parliamentary
election victory 10 days ago.

Three of Hamas’s top leaders, Mahmoud al-Zahar, Ismail
Haniyeh and Khalil al-Haya met Abbas at his Gaza City office
after darkness fell, under heavy police guard.

Palestinian officials said Abbas may not formally name
Hamas to head a government, but explore the prospects of doing
so after its upset victory in a January 25 election where it
won 74 of the legislature’s 132 seats.

An official of the Palestinian Authority said Abbas may
wait to ask Hamas to form a government until the new parliament
meets later this month.

In Saturday’s talks he would likely “lay out his strategy,
what he wants to see of any government,” the official said.

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said before the talks: “It
is yet unclear whether the president will ask Hamas to form the
government officially or not.”

Abbas said on Friday he expected Hamas would most likely
form the next government, but the talks could take some time.

The call of Hamas’s charter to destroy Israel could prove
an obstacle, as Abbas has said he would expect any Palestinian
government to respect interim peace deals with Israel.

The United States and European Union have said that a
Hamas-led Palestinian Authority would risk losing crucial
foreign aid unless the group disarmed and recognised Israel.

Khaled Meshaal, a Hamas leader in exile, said on Friday the
group would never recognize Israel but might be willing to
negotiate terms for a temporary truce.

Israel brushed off Meshaal’s comments demanding Hamas
unequivocally recognize Israel’s right to exist and “abandon
terrorism.”

ISRAEL URGED TO RECONSIDER FUNDS FREEZE

Israel’s central bank governor urged the government on
Saturday to consider lifting a freeze on handing over tax
revenue to the Palestinian Authority.

Israel suspended a monthly payment of some $55 million, a
main source of funding to the Palestinian Authority, after
Hamas’s election victory and the prospect of it joining a
future Palestinian government.

“I generally prefer to stand by the agreements we have
signed with them (the Palestinian Authority),” Stanley Fischer,
the bank governor, told Israel Radio.

Israeli interim Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s cabinet was
expected to discuss releasing the funds at its weekly session
on Sunday, political sources have said.

Without these funds, Palestinian officials have said they
would lack money to pay 140,000 government employees.

The Palestinian Authority runs on a budget of about $100
million a month. In addition to the taxes collected by Israel,
it receives about $1 billion from international donors.

The United Nations Security Council on Friday followed the
United States and European Union in calling on Hamas to disarm
and recognize Israel.

Hamas spokesman Abu Zuhri said these demands were “unjust
and are rejected.”

Hamas leaders al-Zahar and Haniyeh would head to Egypt
after the talks with Abbas and select delegates to travel to
Arab and Islamic capitals to discuss “Hamas’s vision and its
plans for … formation of a government,” Abu Zuhri said.

Palestinian police arrested two protesters after youths
threw stones at an EU office in Gaza, in continuing protests
against the printing of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad in
European newspapers, witnesses and police said.

(Additional reporting by Jonathan Saul in Jerusalem)