Abbas to ask Hamas to form govt

By Nidal al-Mughrabi

GAZA (Reuters) – President Mahmoud Abbas will ask Hamas on
Tuesday to form a new Palestinian government and to pursue his
peace agenda, but the Islamist militant group said talks with
the Jewish state would be a waste of time.

Facing a looming financial crisis after Israel halted
monthly tax payments to an already cash-strapped Palestinian
Authority, Hamas’s top political leader, Khaled Meshaal, said
Iran would play an increasing role in Palestinian affairs.

U.S. and Israeli officials have expressed concern over
Iran’s influence. They see Iran as a threat to world security,
making it even more unlikely that Israeli-Palestinian peace
talks could resume under a Hamas-led government underpinned by
financial support from Tehran.

Speaking in Tehran ahead of one-on-one talks in Gaza
between Abbas and Hamas’s prime minister-designate, Ismail
Haniyeh, Meshaal said: “Talking to Israel is a waste of time as
long as there is no talk about withdrawing from Palestine.”

Israel has likewise refused to talk to Hamas, whose charter
calls for the destruction of the Jewish state.

In a “political analysis” posted on its website, Hamas said
an economic siege by the West could result in the Palestinian
Authority’s collapse.

But the analysis cautioned that doing so would lead to a
surge in violence against Israel, an outcome Israel and the
Western powers would find “undesirable.”

The United States and the European Union have threatened to
freeze all but humanitarian aid if a Hamas-led government
refused to renounce violence and recognize Israel, prompting
the militant group to appeal for support from Iran and others.

“With respect to the challenges that we have ahead of us,
Iran’s role in the future of Palestine should continue and
increase,” Meshaal said. In the past, Iran has made donations
to Hamas and other militant groups.

One day after militant factions held talks on joining a
coalition government, Israel warned Hamas against following
through on a promise to the Popular Front for the Liberation of
Palestine to release PFLP fighters from Palestinian prisons
once it takes power.

A senior Israeli official said Israel would take steps to
apprehend the men if they were freed.

GOVERNMENT GUIDELINES

Abbas will meet with Haniyeh at 6 p.m. (1600 GMT) to
present him with a formal letter authorising him to form a
government, aides said.

Abbas was also expected to spell out guidelines for a
future Hamas administration, including a commitment from the
militant group to abide by past interim peace accords with
Israel, an aide to the president said.

Some Palestinian political analysts have predicted a
constitutional crisis if Hamas continues to reject Abbas’s
peace agenda. Hamas has given no ground, but both sides so far
appear eager to avoid a confrontation.

Hamas crushed Abbas’s long-dominant Fatah faction in a
January 25 election on a platform of rooting out corruption in
the Palestinian Authority.

Hamas has carried out nearly 60 suicide bombings in Israel
since a Palestinian uprising began in 2000 but has largely
abided by a ceasefire Abbas forged with Israeli leaders a year
ago.

Once Abbas gives the nod to Haniyeh, a Hamas leader viewed
by many Palestinians as a pragmatist, the 43-year-old Gazan
will have up to five weeks to form an administration.

In a bid to isolate Hamas, Israel on Sunday halted the
transfer of tax revenues owed to the Palestinian Authority.

The United States, Israel’s biggest ally, also asked the
Palestinian Authority to return $50 million of its own aid to
ensure it does not reach Hamas.

Hamas brushed aside the financial pressure.

“If the West does not provide economic aid to Palestine, it
can get the support from the Arab and Islamic countries,”
Meshaal said.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has called on
Islamic countries to give the Hamas-led Palestinian government
financial support.

Russia also said on Monday it was “ready in principle” to
offer emergency aid to the Palestinians.

The Palestinians receive about $1 billion a year from
donors and the Palestinian Authority requires at least $100
million a month.

(Additional reporting by Adam Entous, Jonathan Saul)