Middle East News
Mashaal: Palestinian unity government to be announced 'soon'
Nov 20, 2006, 9:46 GMT
Damascus - A senior Syrian-based Hamas official said Monday that the formation of a Palestinian national unity government would be announced soon, adding that Hamas would also join the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO).
Khaled Mashaal, head of Hamas' political bureau, told reporters in the early hours of Monday following a meeting with Ahmed Qureia, the former Palestinian prime minister, that the meeting was part of efforts inside and outside the Palestinian Territories to reach agreement on Palestinian cooperation.
'The climate was positive,' Mashaal said, expressing hopes that the current talks process would culminate in the announcement of a new national unity government, and in serious steps to rebuild the PLO.
Mashaal said that he and Qureia had spoken via telephone with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and had agreed to hold a further meeting in an Arab capital in the presence of other Palestinian factions and some Arab and European countries 'to tell the world that we are a united Palestinian rank.'
Qurea, meanwhile, said that the meeting was 'positive and constructive.'
© 2006 dpa - Deutsche Presse-AgenturCOMMENT
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