Last update - 00:00 05/03/2007
Haniyeh-Abbas meeting on PA unity gov't ends without accord
By Avi Issacharoff, Haaretz Correspondent and News Agencies
A meeting between Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas and Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah on the formation of a PA unity government ended without agreement on Monday evening.
Earlier, Haniyeh said the government will not be agreed before the end of next week, said on Monday.
The government, which Fatah and Hamas agreed to form after talks in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, on February 8, had originally been expected to be unveiled at the end of last week.
"We did not conclude the consulations to form the government and we will not announce it before the end of next week," Haniyeh told a cabinet meeting in Gaza.
Haniyeh said he would hold more talks with Abbas in the next two days, but said more time would be needed after that. He did not list the sticking points. Other officials have said the two sides have yet to
agree on who will take the helm of the interior ministry, in charge of the security forces.
Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni on Monday warned the European Union against resuming direct aid to a Palestinian national union government which did not meet its demands to "fully and completely" recognize Israel, renounce violence, and agree to abide by past agreements.
Meanwhile, European Union External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner on Monday ruled out an early resumption of direct aid to the new Palestinian unity government despite demands by France, Sweden and others for a partial resumption of assistance.
No senior Hamas officials
The new Palestinian unity government, set up in a bid to end the crippling international sanctions on the year-old Hamas government, will not include any senior officials from Hamas, or any remnants of the preceding Fatah governments from the days of Yasser Arafat.
Hamas has announced that all its candidates for ministerial positions, with the exception of Haniyeh, are not and have never been ministers or members of parliament.
The list of Hamas candidates issued Monday morning in the Palestinian newspaper Al Ayyam indicates that the nominees are not even considered the most senior members of the organization.