Fatah, Hamas to hold talks on unity government

Gaza, May 13 (IANS) A senior official in Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah Party will arrive in Gaza Tuesday to hold talks with Hamas rulers on the formation of the unity government, officials in Gaza said.

Salah al-Bardaweel, a senior Hamas leader in Gaza told reporters that Azzam el-Ahmad will arrive in the Gaza Strip coming from the West Bank city of Ramallah later Tuesday, Xinhua reported.

"El-Ahmad will arrive in Gaza to hold talks with Hamas leadership on the formation of the agreed-upon transitional technocrat unity government," said al-Bardaweel.

On April 23, el-Ahmad chaired the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) delegation, which signed a deal with Hamas leaders on implementing previous understandings on ending the internal Palestinian division.

Under the deal, it was agreed to form a unity government within five weeks, which would be an apolitical government, but has a specific mission related to preparing for holding general elections after six months of its formation.

Palestinian observers said that the Palestinians mainly in the Gaza Strip were very anxious to see a unity government formed to end more than seven years of a tight Israeli blockade and internal division.

The internal division began right after Hamas movement had violently seized control of the Gaza Strip and routed the security forces of President Abbas in 2007. Israel in return imposed a tight blockade on the coastal enclave.

Meanwhile, Musa Abu Marazooq, a senior Hamas leader who came from Egypt and stayed in Gaza to follow up the implementation of the reconciliation deals reached with Fatah confirmed el-Ahmad's arrival in Gaza later in the day.

"The mission of the unity government is to help ending the siege imposed on the Gaza Strip, reconstruct the Gaza Strip and prepare for holding the general elections," Abu Marzooq posted on Facebook.