At a press conference in Gaza on Friday, Haniyeh said that he may not remain in his current post - as PA prime minister - in the joint Hamas-Fatah government that he and Abbas (Abu Mazen) have been working on over the past week.
The formation of a unified government made up of representatives from both Hamas and the nominally secular Fatah terrorist organization is seen by the PA leaders as a necessary step to obtain renewed financial aid from the world community. Western sanctions were placed on aid to the PA ever since Hamas took the reins of power in March 2006.
"The Western nations have one condition, and that is that the siege will not be lifted until the prime minister is replaced," Haniyeh said. "When the siege is on one side and my term as prime minister is on the other, it is preferable that [the siege] is lifted and that the suffering of the Palestinian people is ended."
The unity government under discussion, Haniyeh told reporters, is based on the "prisoners' document," a draft agreement drawn up by imprisoned terrorists from the Hamas and Fatah organizations. The PA leader said that the talks with Fatah on joint rule would conclude, at the latest, in three weeks. However, he emphasized that Hamas is not prepared to concede in the negotiations.
On Saturday, during ceremonies marking two years since the death of arch-terrorist and PLO leader Yasser Arafat, PA President Abbas expressed his hope that the Hamas-Fatah government would be established by the end of the month. "I tell my people that we have achieved great progress on the way to forming a national unity government that can end the siege and open the horizons for political solutions that will end the occupation forever," Abbas said.
Musa Abu Marzouk, deputy politburo chief for Hamas in Syria, told the Associated Press on Friday that a candidate for the new PA prime minister has been agreed upon by his group and Fatah. However, he refused to divulge that person's identity.
The formation of a unified government made up of representatives from both Hamas and the nominally secular Fatah terrorist organization is seen by the PA leaders as a necessary step to obtain renewed financial aid from the world community. Western sanctions were placed on aid to the PA ever since Hamas took the reins of power in March 2006.
"The Western nations have one condition, and that is that the siege will not be lifted until the prime minister is replaced," Haniyeh said. "When the siege is on one side and my term as prime minister is on the other, it is preferable that [the siege] is lifted and that the suffering of the Palestinian people is ended."
The unity government under discussion, Haniyeh told reporters, is based on the "prisoners' document," a draft agreement drawn up by imprisoned terrorists from the Hamas and Fatah organizations. The PA leader said that the talks with Fatah on joint rule would conclude, at the latest, in three weeks. However, he emphasized that Hamas is not prepared to concede in the negotiations.
On Saturday, during ceremonies marking two years since the death of arch-terrorist and PLO leader Yasser Arafat, PA President Abbas expressed his hope that the Hamas-Fatah government would be established by the end of the month. "I tell my people that we have achieved great progress on the way to forming a national unity government that can end the siege and open the horizons for political solutions that will end the occupation forever," Abbas said.
Musa Abu Marzouk, deputy politburo chief for Hamas in Syria, told the Associated Press on Friday that a candidate for the new PA prime minister has been agreed upon by his group and Fatah. However, he refused to divulge that person's identity.