Brussels, 13/02/2007 (Agence Europe) - Ismail Hanyeh, the prime minister of the Palestinian government, who, after the agreement reached in Mecca on 8 February, has been called on to form a government of national unity, has urged the EU, and the West as a whole, to lift the boycott on the Palestinian Authority. “We are speaking to the European Union (EU) and the Quartet - the United States, the EU, Russia and the UN - to ask them to respect the will of the Palestinian people and their agreement, and to lift the blockade which the Palestinian people have been suffering for many long months,” he said in a speech in Gaza on Monday. He went on to say that the Mecca agreement had “opened the way for any party which wished to speak to the Palestinians about lifting the blockade”. Mr Hanyeh said that he would submit his resignation within four days and would immediately begin the task of forming a new coalition government within a maximum of five weeks. The foreign and financial ministries will be given to “independents”, thereby getting round measures, put in place by the EU and the US, banning any dealings with Hamas. Under the terms of the Mecca agreement, Hamas must offer Fatah the chance to put forward its own candidates for ministerial posts.
Ehud Olmert, the prime minister of Israel, said on Monday that he would wait to see the formation of the new Palestinian executive to assess the situation. If nothing were to change with regard to Israel, “that will show that (Abbas's) position had moved closer towards that of Hamas”. Mr Olmert plans to meet President Abbas and American Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice next week. Mr Abbas is planning to meet Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, in Jordan on Tuesday. Russia is a member of the Quartet and Mr Putin, who is currently travelling around the region, has strongly criticised American “unilateralism”. (fb)