Olmert and Abbas to meet again Monday
Olmert and Abbas to meet again Monday(archive)

A new Fatah-Hamas unity government is in the works, but outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who previously has said that such efforts would halt talks for a new Palestinian Authority state, plans to meet Abbas next Monday.

 

Egypt plans to host a meeting with Hamas and Fatah leaders on November 9 for a "consensus government." Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhum said the terrorist organization has given its tentative approval for the Egyptian proposal. "We will agree to the draft of the agreement and will not reject it," he told the French news agency AFP.

 

One sticking point may be the status of PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, whose four-year term is supposed to end on January 9. Abbas has said that a clause in the PA constitution allows him to extend his term for another year.

 

The Egyptian plan calls for independent PA security forces at the same time Fatah is deploying American-trained and armed "policemen" to patrol streets in major Arab cities in Judea and Samaria.

 

The Prime Minister's scheduled talks with Abbas on Monday may be the last time the two leaders meet. His designated replacement, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, has less than two weeks to either form a new government or face the probability of general elections.

 

Abbas said that last month he asked Olmert to answer nine questions concerning his previous suggestion to hand over to the PA almost all of Judea and Samaria, including large areas of eastern Jerusalem, and conduct a land swap with the PA.

 

Any agreement between Olmert and Abbas will not legally bind the next Prime Minister but may set a political obligation in the eyes of the international community.