Sources close to the Hamas terrorist organization, which currently heads the Palestinian Authority government, say that the prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh, has not yet agreed to resign and make way for a new unity government. So reports the PA's Maan press agency.
The new stance is in violation of the famous Mecca talks of last week, after which Hamas and Fatah announced to the world that they had agreed to end the fraternal bloodshed and form a unity government.
Hamas leader Haniyeh now says that Fatah chief Abu Mazen, who chairs the Palestinian Authority, must agree to the following conditions:
1. The fulfillment of all decisions made by the outgoing Hamas government, including the establishment of a special government security force, and the ratification of all Hamas government appointments. Abu Mazen has, in fact, not approved many Hamas appointments in the past.
2. The identity of the new Interior Minister must be agreed before the outgoing government resigns. This key issue was not agreed upon in the Mecca talks.
3. Though the Mecca agreement permits Hamas to make two independent ministerial appointments, and Fatah three, Hamas now demands that one of Fatah's appointments be that of Finance Minister Ziyad Abu Amar. In effect, Hamas wants to decrease the Fatah appointments from three to two.
In light of the disagreements, Abu Mazen has decided to cancel the speech he planned for Thursday in which he was to present the Mecca agreement to the PA public. It was announced that he will travel from Ramallah to Gaza this evening (Thursday), however, to try to iron out the disagreements with Haniyeh.
Hamas sources attempted to downplay the new conditions, but in Fatah it is being said that Hamas is blatantly violating the Mecca agreement.
If the disagreements are not resolved, Gazans fear a return to the murderous civil war violence that killed dozens of Arabs in January and early February.
The Mecca agreement, which did not call for a recognition of Israel and a stop to terrorism, has led the United States Congress to freeze the $86 million grant that President Bush wished to give the Palestinian Authority to prop up Abu Mazen. The money is being frozen until "clarifications" are received from the PA regarding the details of the agreement.