PA URGED TO NEW GOVERNMENT

EU's Solana Urges Palestinian Leaders To Form New Government

NABLUS (AP)--The European Union's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, urged Palestinian leaders Friday to move with urgency to form a new government amid warnings that the plight of the Palestinians is worsening.During a stop in a West Bank refugee camp, Solana said international sanctions against the Hamas-led government have taken a heavy toll on ordinary Palestinians. He expressed hope the Palestinians would soon a new government more acceptable to the international community.The problem is now that the political solution may arrive too late. Things may get too bad that it will be difficult to recuperate. We have to reverse the situation,he said during a visit to the Askar refugee camp.

The E.U., U.S. and other donors cut off hundreds of millions of dollars of aid to the Palestinian Authority after the Hamas-led government took office in March. Despite growing hardship in the Palestinian areas, the Islamic militant group has refused international calls to renounce violence and recognize Israel's right to exist.Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, seeking to get the sanctions lifted, has been pushing Hamas to form a coalition government with his Fatah party. But after weeks of unsuccessful negotiations, Abbas said Thursday there is no point in further dialogue.Saeb Erekat, an Abbas confidant, said the president is now hoping to end the deadlock by appointing a new government of apolitical technocrats. But he said Hamas would have to accept the compromise.Erekat said there are extensive discussions going on with Hamas, but no agreement.

Solana is on his six-day mission to the Middle East aimed at breathing new life into peace efforts. Solana met Wednesday with Olmert and Thursday with Abbas and other Israeli and Palestinian officials. Solana was leaving Friday for Lebanon, before moving on to Egypt Sunday.Solana wrapped up the Israel and Palestinian leg of his Middle East tour Friday at a U.N.-funded school near the Askar refugee camp.He and other E.U. officials met with the Filippo Grandi, deputy head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, which provides humanitarian aid to the Palestinians.Grandi said there was a sense of despair in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The international community must do something to ensure the community ( Palestinians) has a future, he said.

U.N. officials briefed Solana on their work, but told of problems they face in the West Bank and Gaza. They said there are too many Israeli checkpoints, house raids and curfews all put in place since the Hamas-led Palestinian government came to power in March.They said, however, the situation is not a humanitarian crisis, but more an economic crisis. The only solution is a political solution, Grandi said.They warned Solana that if the situation doesn't change soon, the militants could grow more popular.They will see the only way is through violence,said Anders Fange, director of UNRWA's West Bank operations.Solana told them he is hopeful there will be a new Palestinian government soon. (END) Dow Jones Newswires, 10-27-061110ET