Hamas agreed to Fayyad as finance minister in new unity government

AFP, Sunday 22 May 2011

The Hamas movement accepts Salam Fayyad as finance minister in the new National Unity government but reject him as prime minister.

The Hamas movement has accepted the appointment of Salam Fayyad as Minister of Finance in the new transitional Palestinian unity government, Palestinian Safa news website reported on Sunday. Fayyad is currently Prime Minister of the Palestinian government in Ramallah.

The website reported that a senior Fatah official said Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas sent several messages to Hamas leaders in the past few days urging them to accept Fayyad as prime minister or finance minister.

“President Abbas urged Hamas leaders not to take any hasty decisions that might give Israel an excuse to convince the international community to boycott the Palestinian authority,” the source said.

He added that Hamas leaders said the movement does not mind putting the appointment of Fayyad as finance minister on the negotiation table; however, the movement needed guarantees from President Abbas that there would be no crackdown on movement figures or interests in the West Bank in the future.

Other Palestinian sources added that US President Barack Obama’s recent speech convinced Palestinian leaders that the new unity government must include technocrats who have the approval of the international community.

Source: Ahram.
Link: http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/12686.aspx.