Abbas for Hamas men in Cabinet

The idea of approaching Hamas to participate in the government has been raised in several recent sessions of Abbas’ Fatah faction, Palestinian officials said. Fatah’s Central Committee, which sets the movement’s policy, is meeting in the Jordanian capital to accommodate exiled leaders such as Farouk Kaddoumi, a Palestine Liberation Organisation hard-liner. Fatah officials also are reportedly weighing candidates, including Kaddoumi, for the position of deputy to Abbas.

Hamas, which scored strongly in municipal elections held over the past several months in the West Bank and Gaza, is expected to win an easy third of the seats in the Palestinian Legislative Council. Both Hamas and Fatah officials in the Gaza Strip said that Hamas might be willing to accept a Cabinet position or positions in advance of the pullout in order to help ensure that the handover of Gaza, where the group has great influence, goes smoothly.

Up until now, Hamas has declined to take part in the Palestinian government, citing objections in principle to the interim peace accords that brought the Palestinian Authority into being more than a decade ago. —LAT-WP