Friday 15 May 2009

Mashaal: Fayyad Forming Gov't Is a Response to American Demand


Mashaal: Fayyad Forming Gov't Is a Response to American Demand


15/05/2009 The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas has refused to accept any government formed by former Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad.

Hamas politburo Chief, Khaled Mashaal, discredited Fayyad's government in a speech he made in Yarmouk Camp near the Syrian capital, Damascus. "The rush in re-forming Fayyad's government is a response to an American demand. This government wasn't legal in the past and even not legal when it resigned. We don't accept a government that is not based on Palestinian legislation and law," Mashaal said.

Former World Bank economist Fayyad tendered his resignation on March 7, effective March 31, in order to help rival Palestinian factions reach an agreement.

However, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas rejected the resignation of Fayyad and asked him to stay on until Abbas's Fatah faction and Hamas, finished negotiating a new interim government in Cairo.

Fatah and Hamas, which drove out Abbas' forces in a brief skirmish in 2007 culminating in seizure of Gaza Strip, early in April began a third round of talks in Cairo aimed at forging a possible unity government deal.

Hamas democratically won a 2006 Palestinian election but its government was shunned by western powers for refusing to recognize Israel, renounce violence and abide by interim “peace deals” with the Zionist state.

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