BICOM

Palestinian unity talks in Cairo faced a crisis yesterday as Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal agreed to postpone talks about the formation of a new government, a PA official in Ramallah said.

The PA official said the talks were postponed “because Hamas continues to prevent the election committee from registering voters in Gaza.” He added that Hamas, which has been split internally on agreeing the unity government, has “not yet informed Abbas of its formal approval to end internal disputes on forming the government.”

Abbas and Meshaal began their meetings in Cairo on Wednesday to implement the terms of a reconciliation deal they signed in the Egyptian capital in May. The deal called for the formation of an interim government and elections. The so-called “Doha Declaration” called for a government of “independent technocrats” to oversee reconstruction efforts in Hamas-ruled Gaza and to “facilitate the implementation of presidential and parliamentary elections. The interim government line-up was meant to have been announced shortly afterwards, but the Doha deal was met, primarily, with opposition from Gaza-based members of Hamas.

Abbas and Meshaal today are taking part in two rounds of meetings with the leadership of all the Palestinian factions, including Islamic Jihad. At the meeting, according to the schedule, Palestinian factions will discuss reforming the Fatah dominated umbrella group the Palestine Liberation Organisation to allow Hamas and 13 other Palestinian factions to join.

It remains unclear when the final government line-up will be announced and if elections will be held.