Palestinian ministers face blanket US ban

Blow to unity cabinet in run up to three-way talks· Fatah and independents to be treated 'same as Hamas'

Rory McCarthy in Jerusalem
The Guardian Friday February 16, 2007
American officials have told the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, that they will boycott all ministers in a new coalition cabinet unless the government meets international conditions, including recognition of Israel, Palestinian officials said yesterday.

The warning indicates the extent of Washington's unease at the agreement reached in Mecca last week between the rival Palestinian groups, Hamas and Fatah. It comes just before a meeting in Jerusalem on Monday between the US secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, the Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, and Mr Abbas.

The boycott means that any Fatah leaders who join the new government will be shunned by US officials, and suggests that Monday's meeting is unlikely to produce a breakthrough.

However, the US will continue to talk to Mr Abbas and his office, Palestinian officials said. An official told Reuters: "The Americans have informed us that they will be boycotting the new government headed by Hamas. Fatah and independent ministers will be treated the same way Hamas ministers are treated."

Saeb Erekat, a Palestinian negotiator who met US officials last week to prepare for Monday's meeting, said: "The Americans reiterated the position that their relations with the government will depend on the government's compliance with the Quartet's principles."

The so-called Quartet of Middle East negotiators - the EU, US, UN and Russia - has said its boycott of the Palestinian government will only be lifted if the new authority recognises Israel, renounces violence and accepts past peace agreements.

After months of bitter factional fighting on the streets of Gaza, Hamas and Fatah signed an agreement in Mecca last week to form the new coalition cabinet, a step that has been months in the making. Western governments had hoped that Mr Abbas, the Fatah leader, might convince Hamas to accept their conditions. The Mecca agreement fell short of meeting those conditions, though the Palestinians did agree to "respect" previous peace agreements.

Israeli officials were reportedly also angry that Mr Abbas signed up to such a deal. However the Mecca pact represents a return of Saudi Arabia in diplomacy on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The pact, which many Palestinian observers saw as a Saudi endorsement of Hamas's part in the government, reportedly came with a promise of $1bn for the Palestinians from the Saudi government.

Yesterday, Mr Abbas was due to meet Ismail Haniyeh, the Hamas prime minister, in Gaza to draw up the details of the new cabinet, but hurdles have already emerged. On Wednesday, Hamas demanded that its armed force, known as the executive force, should be recognised, that Mr Abbas should lift his objections to the employment of several Hamas figures as senior civil servants, and that he should agree to a candidate for interior minister.

Last night Mr Haniyeh resigned in a procedural move aimed at launching the unity cabinet, officials in his office said.

Although Monday's three-way talks represent a new US effort on the Israeli-Palestinian issue, Israel has made it clear that key issues in the peace process, such as the setting of borders, the future of Jerusalem and the Palestinian refugee question, will not be on the table this time.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,,2014380,00.html