Hamas: Independents excluded from talks

Senior Hamas official Ismail al-Ashqar has said that the upcoming round of negotiations on the formation of a government will not include any independent parties, initially being restricted to Fatah and Hamas. In a press statement on Thursday evening, al-Ashqar said: "So far, it has not been agreed that the ministers in the upcoming cabinet should be independents." He also described Palestinian National Authority President Mahmoud Abbas's confirmation of the cabinet as "a political decision”, saying it should have been approved by the Legislative Council. The news comes after another Hamas official, Al-Rashk, confirmed that Fatah and Hamas will meet on February 10 in Cairo to reach an agreement on the formation of the cabinet. On updating the voter registers, al-Ashqar called on Palestinians and Hamas supporters in particular to head to electoral centres on February 11 to update their voter registration. He said the procedure has nothing to do with the timing of the actual election, which he said is yet to be confirmed. Instead, the measure is aimed at establishing a database for future use in legislative, presidential or Palestinian National Council [PNC] elections.