TEMPO.CO, Ramallah - Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, appointed Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah to head a new national unity government, yesterday.
"The government is ready, but there is only one problem, and that is that Fatah and Hamas reject Riyad al-Maliki as foreign minister, something Abbas is insisting on," an official told AFP. Malki is a veteran diplomat who has been serving as the foreign minister since 2007.
A source close to Hamas said Islamist movements wanted that position for Ziad Abu Amr, one of the two deputy prime ministers under Hamdallah, who has received an invitation to come to Washington.
"The U.S. administration today sent an invitation to the prime minister to go to Washington and meet White House and Congress officials," the source said.
"This is recognition of the consensus government by the U.S. administration."
Hamas and Western-backed Palestine Liberation Organization, which is dominated by Abbas’ secular Fatah party, signed a surprise reconciliation agreement on April 23 to end years of bitter and sometimes bloody rivalry.
Under the deal, both sides will work together to establish an "independent government" of technocrats that will pave the way for long-delayed elections.
The agreement gave them five weeks to form a unity government, which was to have been announced on May 28.
"If this issue is resolved today and Abbas agrees not to appoint Malki, then the government will be announced in the next few hours," the source said.
ANTARA NEWS
