Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, whose Fatah faction has refused to join a Hamas-led cabinet, will not reject Hamas' line-up, his spokesman and another senior Fatah official said on Saturday. Abbas is scheduled to meet Hamas leaders on Sunday night, Hamas officials said.
On its part, Hamas announced that it had completed forming a Palestinian cabinet and will present the line-up to Abbas. "Hamas has ended the formation of the government. The cabinet is ready to be presented to President Mahmoud Abbas in a meeting to be agreed with him," Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters.
According to Hamas sources, the movement's leaders have chosen one of their own to run the Palestinian Ministry of Finance. The candidate is Omar Abdel-Razaq, a prominent West Bank economics professor and Hamas election official. Abdel-Razaq was arrested by Israeli forces earlier this year and was released three days ago, Hamas sources said.
Mahmoud Zahar will almost be named Foreign Minister, according to a preliminary list of Cabinet ministers given to The Associated Press by officials in Hamas. Said Siyam, a popular Hamas lawmaker, has been tapped for the Interior and Civil Affairs Ministries, which control three of the Palestinian's five security forces.
