Fatah and Hamas to meet for unity talks

A Fatah spokesperson has announced that Fatah and Hamas representatives will meet Tuesday next week to discuss the unity government. Dr Jamal Muhaisen, a member of the Central Committee of the Fatah movement, said that the two factions will discuss the names of potential ministers of the new national consensus government. Fatah representative Azzam al-Ahmad and Moussa Abu Marzouk, the vice president of the political bureau of Hamas will attend. Dr Muhaisen explained in a press statement on Monday that al-Ahmad and Abu Marzouk will first discuss the potential names on Friday which will be delivered to President Mahmoud Abbas and Khaled Meshaal for approval and to agree on the names no later than June 20.  Other factions will be consulted as well, before President Mahmoud Abbas will issue a decree for the convening of the Legislative Council. Muhaisen said the ministers of the national consensus government will be independent, live in the Palestinian territories, have a national identity number and will be selected from the West Bank and Gaza. He stressed that the main  aim of the government will be to create an atmosphere for the presidential and legislative elections and the National Council in addition to overseeing the implementation of internal reconciliation.  It also wants to speed up the reconstruction of Gaza, to end the siege on the territory and to unify the institutions, as well as addressing the civil and administrative issues and to settle the situation of NGOs. Hamas, which administers the Gaza Strip, has allowed the central election commission to start its work across enclave.  The action was taken shortly after it obtained an approval from Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh on May 28, after an agreement signed between Fatah and Hamas on May 20 in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, to start implementing the Doha and Cairo agreements with immediate effect.