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| Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas hands over
an official nomination document to Hamas' Ismail Haniyeh the new PM, for
the formation of his new government Feb. 21.
(Xinhua/Reuters) |
GAZA, Feb. 21 (Xinhuanet) -- Ismail Haneya, Hamas
candidate for Palestinian prime minister, said on Tuesday night that he had
officially received the letter of appointment from Palestinian President Mahmoud
Abbas to start the process of forming a new cabinet.
Hamas had launched contacts with all Palestinian political
parties and factions since the Hamas-dominated parliament was sworn in last
Saturday. But the long dominant Fatah, which was defeated by Hamas in last
month's parliamentary elections, has so far refused to join a Hamas-led
government.
"We are determined to continue with these contacts until
we form a national unity government," Haneya told reporters following a two-hour
meeting with Abbas at the latter's office in Gaza City.
"We want to form a national unity government that gains
the confidence of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) and this government
would shoulder the responsibility for our people," Haneya noted.
Azzam al-Ahmed, head of Fatah movement in the PLC, arrived
in Gaza from the West Bank to hold talks on Wednesday with Hamas leaders.
Haneya said that Hamas would have a comprehensive dialogue
with Fatah with open minds.
"We would present everything on the table during the
dialogue with our Fatah brothers," he said. "We are very much interested in
achieving the political partnership."
"We hope that we will reach an agreement with Fatah
movement and form a large national unity Palestinian cabinet," Haneya said.
Haneya will have five weeks to form a cabinet.
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