Hamas says new rift with Abbas on government

Damascus: Hamas accused Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday of imposing what it called unacceptable new conditions for forming a unity government.

Abbas is putting conditions on the formation of the proposed government, including the release of an Israeli soldier captured by Palestinian militants in June and a halt to attacks by Hamas and other groups on Israel, said a Hamas statement.

The statement is the latest twist in months of on-off talks between Abbas and Hamas to try to form a coalition government that they hope will succeed in lifting eight months of Western financial sanctions.

"Abu Mazen (Abbas), has started putting new conditions which were not included in the understandings and agreements we have concluded to form a unity government," it said.

"The issue of calming down armed resistance was not on the table and should not be raised at this time," The statement said. "Hamas had announced it is ready to stop rocket attacks if Zionist aggression and assassinations stop."

Yasser Abed Rabbo, a senior aide to Abbas, denied that Abbas had imposed new terms.

Hamas and Fatah had on Monday suspended negotiations over the formation of the government after disagreement emerged over the distribution of key ministries.

Fatah wants independent "experts" to take them over. Hamas said in its statement that although it has agreed with Fatah to exclude leading politicians from the new cabinet, it should not be comprised totally of independents.

"This will not be purely technocratic government," it said. "The new government must not be linked to other issues, such as a ceasefire or the captured soldier. Hamas is deeply worried about attempts to go beyond the bases agreed on with Fatah," the statement said.

"Linking the soldier issue with the proposed government damages Palestinian interests," it said.

Foreign Minister Mahmoud Zahar, a Hamas official, said Abbas' desire to create a technocrat government was a "dangerous" recession and unacceptable.

Hamas said it had not received guarantees from Abbas that the West would recognise the proposed government and lift sanctions.

In Cairo, meanwhile, Hamas's exiled political leader Khaled Mashaal held a second day of talks with Egyptian officials.

Hamas officials and the Egyptian government provided no details of the discussions but said they focused on forming a national unity government, securing a prisoner exchange with Israel and lifting the Israeli blockade against Palestinians.

In Damascus, Mashaal's deputy, Moussa Abu Marzouk, said "there are still a lot of efforts" toward a prisoner exchange, but no deal had been reached.