Security post stalls unity talks

14/03/2007| IslamWeb

The question of who will control security services in the Palestinian occupied territories is hindering the completion of negotiations over the formation of a unity government.

An aide to Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, told reporters in Ramallah on Tuesday that the interior ministry is proving a "real obstacle" to a final deal.
 
 Abbas of the Fatah faction was due to resume talks with Ismael Haniyeh of Hamas in Gaza later on Tuesday and both sides have said they were on the verge of announcing an agreement.

Under the deal struck in Mecca last month, Hamas will choose the interior minister but Abbas does have a veto.
 
Abbas has rejected several of Hamas' candidates for the post and Hamas has done the same with 12 names proposed by Abbas.

Haniyeh is expected to give Abbas a new list of names late on Tuesday, but officials say it is unclear whether any of these will be accepted either.

"Interior minister is still a problem," Tayyeb Abdel-Rahim, an aide to Abbas, said.

Regarding the new names an anonymous source told Reuters: "It will be up to the president. Hamas wants to end this task as soon as possible."

Other key cabinet positions, including who will serve as finance and foreign ministers, have been settled.

Israel has vowed to boycott the Palestinian unity government, including non-Hamas ministers, unless it recognises Israel, renounces violence and accepts interim peace deals as demanded by the Quartet of Middle East mediators.

Photo caption

Ismail Haniya (L) and Mahmoud Abbas