Al Qawasmi named as Interior Minister

Occupied Jerusalem: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah accepted a Cabinet line-up yesterday as part of a unity government deal with Prime Minister Esmail Haniya of Hamas.

Hani Al Qawasmi was nominated as the Interior Minister - the most hotly-contested Cabinet post.

It took Abbas and Haniya weeks to settle on a candidate.

Officials described Al Qawasmi as an academic with no known political affiliation and little experience in security matters.

The Interior Minister oversees Palestinian security forces.

In practice, most security units are loyal to Abbas's Fatah faction while the powerful Executive Force answers to Hamas.

Al Qawasmi, 49, is originally from the West Bank city of Hebron and lives in the Gaza Strip. He is married and a father of five.

Salam Fayyad has regained his Finance Minister portfolio. The pro-Western economist was Finance Minister from 2002-2005 when the Palestinian government was controlled by Fatah. He worked for the World Bank from 1987-1995 and was the International Monetary Fund representative to the Palestinian Authority from 1995-2001.

As Finance Minister, the US-educated Fayyad initiated major reforms of the financial system that won international praise.

Fayyad resigned in late 2005 to run as a founder of the Third Way party in Palestinian parliamentary elections.

Ziad Abu Amr is the new Foreign Minister. An independent lawmaker from Gaza, he was Fatah's choice for the post though he was backed by Hamas in parliamentary elections last year.

Abbas aide

He is a political science professor and is well known for his analysis of Islamist groups such as Hamas.

The head of Fatah's parliamentary bloc, Azzam Al Ahmad, has been nominated as the Deputy Prime Minister. Al Ahmad is a close aide to Abbas and has been a long-time political foe of Hamas.