Palestinians are expected to have a national unity government in place by 1 March, reports Khaled Amayreh from the West Bank Worried about incessant American and Israeli plots to thwart the Mecca Agreement, Hamas is seeking to speed up the process of forming a national unity government in which the Islamic movement and Fatah will be the main coalition partners. During the Saudi-brokered talks Hamas and Fatah agreed on 8 February to form a national unity government as part of the wider arrangements that ended the bloody showdown between the two groups which had pushed the Palestinians to the brink of civil war. Palestinian sources told Al-Ahram Weekly that the Prime Minister-designate Ismael Haniya had asked "negotiating teams" to work "day and night" to facilitate the formation of the government. Along with the rest of the Palestinian political class, Hamas is increasingly apprehensive that the Bush administration may be unwilling to allow the process to be completed without attempting to foment more problems, hence their determination to form the government as quickly as possible, before corrosive American efforts go too far. Hamas leaders in both occupied Palestine and the Diaspora have vowed to "save and shield the government of national unity from foreign pressure". Damascus-based Hamas official Mahmoud Abu Marzuq, who describes the national government as "an important achievement based on partnership" has warned against "incessant American efforts" to "sow sedition" and "discord" not only in Palestine but throughout the Middle East. Haniya publicly praised Abbas for resisting pressure to dissociate himself from the Mecca pact applied by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert during their meeting in Jerusalem on Monday, 19 February. "We stand alongside the president in rejecting American and Zionist efforts to create confusion and perplexity in the Palestinian arena," said Haniya. Following the Jerusalem meeting Abbas reciprocated by phoning Haniya to brief him on what was said. The gesture was well-received by Hamas which has had some success in putting on a show of national unity in the face of Israeli-American attempts to scupper the Mecca agreement. Abbas, while showing frustration with Washington's "misunderstanding" of the Mecca Agreement, shows no signs of bending to American pressure. Speaking in Amman following talks with King Abdullah II on Wednesday, Abbas said he was "completely convinced of the validity and correctness of the Mecca Agreement," adding that "Israel's understanding of the agreement is completely wrong." He revealed he had told Olmert that the agreement placed no hurdles to the resumption of peace talks, even according the American-backed Roadmap, saying "I told the Israelis that the sole purpose of the Mecca Agreement was to protect the national unity of the Palestinian people." Abbas described the three-way meeting with Rice and Olmert as "difficult and tense, but not a failure because more meetings will follow". King Abdullah offered support to Abbas, saying Jordan respected the Palestinian people's will which produced the Mecca Agreement. The upcoming period, he continued, will witness "an intensification of political efforts" aimed at winning international support for lifting the siege on the Palestinian people and strengthening the Palestinians' negotiating position pursuant the Roadmap, the Arab initiative for peace and President Bush's vision of two states, Israel and Palestine, living in peace. Abbas is due to meet with officials from several European states, including the UK, France and Germany, in a bid to convince them to deal with the government of national unity and lift the siege on his people. His visit to Jordan coincided with a meeting of the Quartet in Berlin, scheduled to discuss the results of Rice's visit to region as well as ways to revive the peace process. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, EU Foreign Policy Chief Javier Solana, Condoleezza Rice, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeir were all expected to attend. Meanwhile, Hamas negotiating teams have intensified contacts with smaller factions, especially those represented in the Legislative Council, as well as some independent figures, for possible inclusion in the government. Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) have already refused to participate in the government, citing political and ideological reasons. PFLP spokesman Jamil Muzher said his organisation, which controls two seats on the 132-seat council, could not participate in the government because it rejected the "political and economic agreements" between Israel and the PLO. Palestinian sources in Gaza expect the government to finalised by 1 March. In a separate development Haniya revealed that "intensive contacts" were currently underway to finalise a prisoner swap between the PA and Israel. The Palestinian daily Al-Ayyam on Wednesday quoted Haniya as saying that "the issue of (the captured Israeli soldier Gilad) Shalit will be resolved within two weeks at the maximum." While Haniya went on to say that solving this problem will serve Palestinian national interests and lead to the release of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails he provided no additional details.
