GAZA, April 21 (Xinhua) -- The Hamas-led new Palestinian government said on Friday that the establishment of a security force was legal although Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas termed it illegal.

    "The creation of the new security force comes within the law and the Palestinian national interests," Hamas government spokesman Ghazi Hamad told reporters.

    The Palestinian government "doesn't make illegal decisions or carry out actions against the law," he stressed.

    Prime Minister and senior Hamas leader Ismail Haneya had decided to send a letter to President Abbas, explaining the reason for the cabinet's decisions to set up the new security force and appoint Jamal Abu Samhadana as the general inspector of the Interior Ministry, Hamad said, adding that Haneya and Abbas would meet soon in Gaza.

    "The position of the (Interior Ministry) general inspector was not created by the government, it had been there before the new government was formed," Hamad added.

    "If there are differences (between the president and the government), they will be resolved through understanding and constructive dialogue," he stressed, while dismissing there was a crisis between Abbas and the Hamas cabinet.

    Hamad's statements came shortly after Abbas vetoed the Hamas government's decision to create a new security force and appoint Abu Samhadana, a top militant high on the wanted list of Israel for alleged involvement in anti-Israeli attacks.

    The recent row over control of Palestinian security forces has cast shadow over relations between Abbas and the Hamas government, which took office on March 29.

    Hamas, or the Islamic Resistance Movement, has publicly committed itself to Israel's destruction.

    The radical Islamic group defeated Abbas' Fatah movement in the January elections and rejected Abbas' calls to open talks with Israel and honor previous Palestinian-Israeli agreements. Enditem