GAZA CITY, 17 August 2006 — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas yesterday reported progress in efforts to form a national unity government between his Fatah party and Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh’s governing Hamas movement.
“We are on our way to reaching solutions. One of them provides for the creation of national unity government based on the ‘national accord’ document,” Abbas said after meeting Haniyeh.
“We discussed various issues of interest to our people which need solutions...As of now, consultations will start to achieve this goal,” Abbas added.
For his part, Haniyeh said talks aimed at forming a national unity government and ending the tension between the different Palestinian factions continued and voiced his hope that they would be successful.
Haniyeh said the talks would be conducted “on the basis of the prisoners document with the aim of strengthening national unity, lifting the siege on our people and obtaining the release of the ministers and lawmakers” detained by Israel.
Meanwhile, the government yesterday made contact with all Palestinian factions to try to secure the release of journalists working for Fox News. Officials said Palestinian security services were also on alert in the hunt for US reporter Steve Centanni and freelance cameraman Olaf Wiig, from New Zealand, who were snatched by gunmen in Gaza City.
No one has claimed responsibility for their abduction, the latest in a string of kidnappings of foreigners in the Gaza Strip since Israel pulled out of the territory last September.
Elsewhere, three Palestinians were killed and several others wounded early yesterday in two separate attacks by Israeli troops in the southern Gaza Strip, witnesses and medical sources said.
— With input from agencies
