Agreement 'reached' on new Palestinian PM
Palestinians in Gaza and elsewhere have suffered due to international economic sanctions
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Monday, 13, Nov 2006 03:21
Militant group Hamas and the more moderate rival Palestinian faction Fatah have agreed on a candidate to head the new Palestinian unity government, according to reports.
A senior Hamas official in Syria told the Associated Press news agency that the two factions had agreed on the nomination of Mohammed Shabir to become the next Palestinian prime minister, in a move which they hope will encourage the international community to lift economic sanctions within the region.
US educated Mr Shabir, 60, was the head of Gaza's Islamic university until 2005 and is seen as being close to Hamas, without being an active supporter of the insurgent group.
Speaking from Damascus, Abu Marzouk, deputy to the leader of Hamas' political bureau, Khaled Mashaal, told the Associated Press that he expected a new Palestinian unity government to be announced by the end of the month, once assurances had been received that international economic sanctions imposed against the Palestinians would be lifted.
Although the candidate put forward to become the new Palestinian premier will need to receive final approval from Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, his Fatah movement has signalled that it has no objection to Mr Shabir's nomination.
"We can say that Fatah did not give any objections. Mohammad Shbair is a candidate by Hamas, and Fatah has no objection. Therefore, he has a big chance," Rudwan al-Akhras, a spokesman for Fatah's parliamentary bloc is quoted as saying by the Reuters news agency.
Rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah have been rowing for months over the creation of a unity government which will be acceptable to the international community, with Israel, the US and the EU imposing economic sanctions on the Palestinian Authority after Hamas was swept to power in parliamentary elections in March.
Hamas, which is seen by the western states as a terrorist organisation, has refused demands that it recognise the state of Israel, prompting the withdrawal of direct international support for the government, which has subsequently been left without the funds to pay over 160,000 civil servants that it employs.
Reports that Hamas and Fatah are actively discussing the composition of a new unity government will raise hopes of forming an administration which will be acceptable to the west and thus result in an end to the sanctions, in addition to raising the prospect that tension in the Middle East may be eased.