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GAZA, Feb. 19 (Xinhuanet) -- Palestinian President
Mahmoud Abbas said on Sunday night that the Palestinian National Authority (PNA)
was in a serious financial crisis, shortly after Israel decided to halt monthly
transfer of tax revenues.
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| Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas speaks
during a news conference in Gaza Feb.
19. (Reuters) | "The
Palestinian Authority has faced a serious financial crisis since the start of
the month," Abbas told reporters at his Gaza office.
Israeli cabinet voted Sunday to suspend payment of
monthly custom duties, estimated at 50 million dollars, one day after a
Hamas-dominated Palestinian parliament was sworn in.
Abbas said that he would meet Hamas leaders on Monday
to discuss forming the new cabinet.
Hamas spokesman Salah al-Bardaweil confirmed Sunday
that the militant group had nominated its senior leader Ismael Haneya as prime
minister, and Abbas is expected to ask Haneya to form the cabinet.
Hamas rejected Abbas'call for the expected Hamas-led
government to respect existing agreements with Israel and pursue only peaceful
struggle against the occupation in his speech at the swearing-in ceremony of the
newly elected Palestinian Legislative Council on Saturday.
Mushi al-Masri, a Hamas spokesman, declared the 1993
Oslo peace accord between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization and
the internationally backed roadmap plan for peace were dead, saying peace
negotiation with Israel is not Hamas' strategic choice.
Israel, which brands Hamas as a terrorist group,
refused to deal with Hamas-led Palestinian government if it doesn't renounce
violence and recognize Israel' right to exist. Enditem
Hamas names Haneya
PM
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Ismail Haneya
(AFP/File) | GAZA,
Feb. 19 (Xinhuanet) -- The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) has officially
chosen Ismail Haneya as the new prime minister of the Palestinian National
Authority (PNA), a senior Hamas official said Sunday.
"Hamas has officially chosen Ismail Haneya for the
Prime Minister post," Sallah al-Bardaweil, Hamas spokesman in the Palestinian
Legislative Council (PLC), told reporters.
The nomination, which came one day after a Hamas-led
Palestinian legislature was sworn in, was also announced to reporters in an MSM
written text message.
Palestinian sources said Palestinian President
Mahmoud Abbas will hold a meeting with a Hamas delegation Sunday afternoon in
the West Bank city of Ramallah on the formation of a new Palestinian cabinet.
Abbas is also scheduled to meet later Sunday with
Haneya and other Hamas leaders in Gaza to officially ask Haneya to form the new
cabinet.
Under Palestinian law, Haneya has a maximum of five
weeks to form the cabinet. If he fails to do so, Abbas will nominate another
person to form the cabinet.
Hamas, which won the Jan. 25 Palestinian elections,
said it is ready to form the cabinet and has held contacts with several
political groups and individuals aimed at persuading them to join a national
unity cabinet.
Haneya, a prominent Hamas leader based in Gaza, has
been widely expected to head the next government. Enditem | 
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