News Brief

(IsraelNN.com) Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas, fending off dissidents, is planning to shake up the Cabinet by adding more Fatah members, sources told a PA news agency. "The reason behind this move was to stop the undeclared escalation by some Fatah leaders against Fayyad's government," sources said. A London-based Arabic language newspaper added that several Fatah leaders have demanded that Abbas remove Fayyad because of his move to disarm Fatah gunmen.

Abbas also met with a Hamas legislator Hamed Al-Bittawi, who said they discussed issues of prisoners and the impasse between Fatah and Hamas, which last June staged a military takeover in Gaza. The Israeli government has not commented on the meeting. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert vowed last year that he would immediately stop negotiations with Abbas if he were to try to make peace with Hamas.