Hamas completes formation of Palestinian cabinet

By Nidal al-Mughrabi

GAZA (Reuters) – Hamas on Saturday completed forming a
Palestinian cabinet that will put loyal members of the Islamic
militant group in charge of key ministries, including interior,
foreign affairs and finance, Hamas officials said.

More moderate factions, including President Mahmoud Abbas’s
Fatah movement, refused to form a government with Hamas.

Hamas’s inability to win coalition partners and its
decision to appoint its own members to the three key ministries
could bolster U.S. and Israeli efforts to isolate the new
government diplomatically and economically.

“Hamas has ended the formation of the government. The
cabinet is ready to be presented to President Mahmoud Abbas in
a meeting to be agreed with him,” Hamas official spokesman Sami
Abu Zuhri told Reuters.

He said Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas’s prime minister designate,
would make the announcement at a news conference in Gaza at
1600 local (1400 GMT), although the group does not plan to
unveil its line-up publicly before presenting it to Abbas.

Abbas was expected to meet with Hamas leaders in Gaza on
Saturday but the timing of that meeting could change.

Abbas could object to Hamas’s line-up, triggering a
constitutional crisis. Hamas holds an outright majority in the
Palestinian parliament.

Abbas’s Fatah faction decided not to join the government
because the surprise winner of the January 25 election refused
to accept interim peace deals and to commit to seeking a
negotiated settlement with Israel.

Fatah and the other factions were also under U.S. pressure
not to join.

Only the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine,
whose leader was seized this week by Israeli forces from a West
Bank prison, was still considering joining the government with
Hamas, although it was unclear if a deal would be reached.

According to sources close to the deliberations, Hamas has
decided to name Omar Abdel-Razeq, a prominent West Bank
economics professor and Hamas election official, to the post of
finance minister.

Abdel-Razeq, a professor at an-Najah University, headed
Hamas’s election committee for the West Bank. He was arrested
by Israeli forces early in January and was released three days
ago, Hamas sources said.

FUNDING

The United States and Israel have vowed not to provide any
money directly to a Hamas-led Finance Ministry, which is
responsible for paying the salaries of about 140,000
Palestinian Authority employees and security forces.

As many as one in four Palestinians is dependent on wages
from the Palestinian Authority.

Donor countries are looking into the possibility of setting
up a trust fund that would pay salaries directly to Palestinian
Authority employees as a way to bypass a Hamas-led Finance
Ministry, Western diplomats said on Friday.

Hamas’s choice for foreign minister will be Mahmoud
al-Zahar, a top leader in Gaza whom Israel has tried to
assassinate, Hamas sources said.

Another Hamas leader, Saeed Seyam, would become interior
minister, giving him control over three Palestinian security
agencies, the sources added.

Hamas has carried out nearly 60 suicide bombings against
Israelis since a Palestinian uprising began in 2000 but has
largely adhered to a ceasefire forged a year ago. It has said
talks with Israel would be a waste of time.

(Additional reporting by Mohammed Assadi in Ramallah)