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Hamas to Pick Senior Leader for PM Post
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Sources said Hamas MP Ismail Haniya was a leading candidate for the PM post.
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Additional
Reporting By Suleiman Besharat, IOL Correspondent
GAZA
CITY, February 14, 2006 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) –
Hamas has chosen one of its leaders to be the next Palestinian Prime
Minister, the spokesman for the Palestinian resistance group said on
Monday, February 13.
"The
prime minister will be a leader in Hamas," Reuters quoted Mushir
Al-Masri as saying, but declined to disclose the name.
Several
sources close to the deliberations said Ismail Haniyeh, who headed
Hamas's list in the January 25 legislative elections, was a leading
candidate for the post.
Hamas
swept the Palestinian legislative elections, winning a surprising 74
of the 132-seat legislature, against 45 for Fatah party.
The
resistance group was expected to begin formal talks next week on
forming a new government.
Hamas
said it was working to draw other Palestinian factions into a national
unity government.
Masri
said informal talks have already been held with some Palestinian
parties but that Hamas's choice for prime minister would not be
affected by the outcome of those discussions.
Hamas
politburo member Khalil Abu Lila had told IslamOnline.net that the
group already settled on the names of the prime minister and ministers
of the new government, but only awaited the go-ahead from President
Mahmoud Abbas to make its choices public if other parties remained
adamant to join a coalition government.
"Embarrassing
Hamas"
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Masri said Hamas's PM choice would not be affected by the outcome of discussions with other political factions.
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Since
Hamas's stunning electoral victory, Israel stepped up its military
escalations, killing about nine Palestinian resistance activists.
Political
analysts said that the Israeli escalations were meant to corner Hamas
and abort its efforts to form a Palestinian government.
"Israel's
assassinations of Palestinian activists over the past few days aimed
to embarrass Hamas and abort the group's efforts to form a Palestinian
government," political analyst Saleh Al-Nu'aimi told IOL on
Monday.
"Israel
is making capital of the Arab and international pressure on the
Palestinians after the Israeli pullout from the Gaza Strip as there is
no excuse now for them to carry out operations against Israel,"
he added.
Israel
pulled out forces from Gaza in September under Israeli Prime Minister
Ariel Sharon's disengagement plan.
Nu'aimi
said Israeli politicians are further seeking personal gains from the
military aggressions ahead of the March 28 general elections in
Israel.
"[Acting
Israeli prime minister Ehud] Olmert is now following in the footsteps
of Sharon," he said, in reference to the deadly attacks ordered
by the comatose premier.
Ghazi
Hamad, a political analyst and writer, further said that the chaos
that spread in the Gaza Strip after Hama's win meant to "exhaust
Hamas."
"Hamas
is expected to seriously handle the current situation and I believe
that it will succeed," he said.
Unified
Command
Adnan
Asfour, a Hamas leader, said it is high time all Palestinian parties
acted in unison and cemented national unity.
"The
incessant Israeli aggressions are part of a systematic plan to pit the
Palestinians against one another," he said.
Asfour
revealed that Hamas was moving to unify all Palestinian resistance
factions under one command to stand up to the Israeli attacks.
"Consultations
were underway to reach a final formula on the issue and reach a
consensus among the Palestinian factions," he said.
Hamas
leader Khaled Meshaal had proposed to merge armed factions including
Hamas’s military wing to form an army to defend the Palestinian
people.
"We
are willing to form an army like every independent country though we
are still under occupation...an army to defend our people against
aggression," said the Hamas leader.
"Resistance
is a right enshrined by divine books and international laws and any
people under occupation have every right to self-defense until they
liberate the homeland."
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