Palestinians sign unity government deal

MECCA: Rival Palestinian factions signed a comprehensive deal Thursday to form a national unity government after marathon talks in Mecca aimed at ending lethal infighting and a crippling international boycott.   

The historic document was signed by Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas who heads the Fatah party and the exiled leader of the ruling Islamist Hamas movement Khaled Meshaal, with Saudi host King Abdallah also attending.   

"We have achieved results that will serve our people," Abbas said at the ceremony.   

The accord has been named 'The Mecca Declaration' after the Saudi holy city where the factions have been holding crunch talks over the last two days.   

Abbas swiftly asked prime minister Ismail Haniya to form a new government following the accord, which included a plan for division of ministerial posts.   

Abbas called on the future government "to respect international law and agreements signed by the Palestine Liberation Organization," Abbas advisor Nabil Amr said at the signing ceremony.   

Haniya's Hamas has in the past consistently refused to abide by deals signed by the PLO with Israel. The ruling Islamist Hamas movement and Abbas's Fatah party also agreed on a political programme, but details were not immediately available.

Crucial for the Palestinians is whether it will be enough to convince Western donors and Israel to end a crippling blockade. As part of the deal, a major step toward averting civil war, the Hamas premier will keep his job and the crucial post of interior minister will go to an independent.   

"We agreed with Hamas that Ismail Haniya should lead the government of national unity," said Fatah's Azzam al-Ahmed, adding that Fatah would name a deputy prime mininster.   

The West and Israel have boycotted the Palestinian government since it was formed in March over Hamas's consistent refusal to lay down arms, recognize Israel or abide by interim peace agreements with the Jewish state.   

Under the initial agreement, Hamas would take nine posts in a new government. Another six would go to Fatah and one each to four other parties in parliament. Along with the crucial interior portfolio, independents would also get foreign affairs and finance.   

The document confirmed that former culture minister Ziad Abu Amr had been nominated as foreign minister and Salam Fayyad as finance minister.   

A Hamas official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Abbas "will choose an independent interior minister from among five names that will be submitted to him by Hamas."   

Both parties had pledged not to leave Mecca without drawing a line under a deadly power struggle that has killed around 100 people since December.   

King Abdullah invited the Palestinian leaders, including exiled Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal, to Mecca in a bid to end the deadliest internecine violence in the Palestinian territories in years.   

Meshaal, who lives in Syria and is one of Israel's most wanted men, urged both sides' fighters to exercise restraint.   

Haniya told the talks' opening session there was a need for a "code of honour" banning internal feuding and for a "comprehensive agreement" -- not just an interim deal.   

Meshaal also said it was vital that any deal reached be respected by world powers.   

"The international community must respect our accord, recognize our Palestinian reality and deal with it seriously," he said.   

Hamas formed a government last March after trouncing Abbas's long-dominant Fatah in parliamentary elections two months earlier. It is anxious not to surrender the power it won at the ballot box without securing an end to the Western aid boycott that has crippled its administration.   

Both the European Union and the United States froze all direct aid when the Islamist movement took power, demanding that the Hamas-led government renounce violence and recognise Israel and past interim peace deals.   

Hamas and Fatah have since held protracted negotiations on forming a broad coalition acceptable to Western donors so aid can resume.   

In Jerusalem talks with British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett on Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert insisted that the West should not give up on the three principles and should ensure that any new Palestinian administration should be fully signed up to them.   

"Any government of the Palestinian Authority will have to respect these conditions," he said, adding that he expected to hold a three-way summit with Abbas and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on February 19.   

"I hope that by then we will not find that Abu Mazen (Abbas) has partnered with Hamas in a way that is in contradiction of the principles of the quartet and the international community," Olmert added.