UNITED NATIONS, March 15 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed on Thursday that negotiations for a Palestinian national unity government have been completed, voicing hope that the new administration would respect existing agreements and reflect widely held principles on the conflict in the Middle East.

    His spokesperson Michele Montas told journalists that the UN chief is now looking forward to the formation of both the government and its program.

    She said Ban hoped that the Palestinian government would respect all the existing agreements and reflect principles outlined by the diplomatic Quartet, the international grouping of the United Nations, the European Union, Russia and the United States.

    Those principles include a commitment to the Road Map, the plant hat envisages two states, Israel and Palestine, living side-by-side in peace and security. They also include the recognition of Israel and a rejection of violence.

    The negotiations follow an accord reached in Mecca last month by Palestinian groups to end the intra-Palestinian violence and to try to work together to form a unity government.