Abbas asks Haniyeh to form unity government

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas formally asked Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas yesterday to form a new unity government and urged him to respect peace accords signed with Israel.

Mr Haniyeh accepted the task of drawing up a new Cabinet at a joint news conference in Gaza aimed at launching a government that Palestinians hope will end factional fighting and overcome a paralysing Western aid boycott of the Palestinian Authority.

"Mr Ismail Haniyeh, we designate you to form the Palestinian government," Mr Abbas told Mr Haniyeh, standing at his side, after Mr Haniyeh formally resigned his post as Prime Minister in a procedural move to permit the launch of the coalition Cabinet.

Mr Haniyeh has up to five weeks to form a government. He remains caretaker Prime Minister until a new Cabinet is formed.

Mr Abbas told Mr Haniyeh: "I invite you to respect" past Palestinian agreements with the Jewish state, in language that echoed the wording of an agreement reached last week in talks hosted by Saudi Arabi between Mr Abbas's Fatah and Hamas.

Mr Haniyeh vowed to "work in accordance" with Mr Abbas's letter of designation and said he would launch contacts to form the government. He did not specifically say whether Hamas would drop its refusal to recognise the Jewish state or renounce violence, as the "Quartet" of Middle East power brokers demands.

Analyst Hani Habib said he detected a new tone in Mr Haniyeh's comments, which he described as "a reconciliatory speech on the internal front and a diplomatic language with the West".