Israeli PM: World conditioned to back Palestinians
MAR 6,11 11:15AM
JERUSALEM – Israel's leader has accused the international community of automatically siding with the Palestinians.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that the Palestinians are refusing to make peace overtures, instead preferring to take advantage of the international community's Pavlovian reflex in their favor.Peace talks broke down in September. The Palestinians blame Israel for the stalemate, saying continued Israeli settlement building in the West Bank and east Jerusalem is preventing the resumption of talks.Netanyahu reportedly is considering making an unspecified interim offer, but the Palestinians have rejected provisional arrangements and want nothing short of an accord for a permanent Palestinian state.
Chile president: Palestinian state good for Israel
MAR 6,11
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Chile's president on Sunday sought to mollify Israel over his country's recognition of Palestinian statehood, saying that the move was ultimately for the good of the Jewish state.Speaking to journalists after meeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his Jerusalem office, Sebastian Pinera echoed a phrase often used by his host, saying that any lasting peace must be based on security.Chile has just recognised the Palestinian state because we have always thought that Israel has the right to live within secure borders, internationally-recognised borders, in peace, he said in English.We also think that the Palestinian people have the right to their own state, a free state, a democratic state, he added.
On January 7, Santiago announced it was formally recognising Palestinian statehood, following the footsteps of Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia and Ecuador.Israel opposes the policy, saying a Palestinian state should only be established through bilateral negotiations.Unlike its neighbours, Chile did not specifically refer to a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders -- those which existed before Israel occupied the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem during the Six-Day War of that year.Pinera on Sunday said recognition was fully compatible with a negotiated peace.
That's why when we recognised the Palestinian state we made it very clear that the best way to reach a strong, secure, durable peace is by direct talks between the two countries, he said.If they reach an agreement, then peace will be built on rock, not on sand.Pinera met on Saturday in Ramallah with his Palestinian counterpart Mahmud Abbas, who reiterated his dismissal of any interim accord with Israel for a Palestinian state with provisional borders.This project was already submitted to us and, if it is presented again, we will reject it again, Abbas said at a news conference with Pinera following their talks.Sources close to Netanyahu have said he plans to deliver a key speech in Washington announcing a new diplomatic gambit towards the Palestinians, which would stipulate a long-term interim agreement, rather than negotiations on a final settlement, Israeli media reported.International pressure is mounting for movement in the moribund peace process, which collapsed late last year over a dispute about Jewish settlements.The failure of the peace talks prompted a Palestinian diplomatic initiative to win widespread international recognition for their state, with the aim of securing UN recognition in September.
Mideast tourism sector hit by uprisings
by Jocelyne Zablit - MAR 6,11
BEIRUT (AFP) – Tourism professionals in the Middle East are bracing for fallout from the revolts shaking the region, with cancellations affecting even countries so far spared from the upheavals, notably Jordan and Syria.Tourists are being influenced by the media coverage and are putting the whole Middle East in one bag, not differentiating between one country and another, Touhama Naboulsi, an official with Jordan's Tourism Board, told AFP.Some tourists have cancelled trips to all Arab countries and of course this includes Jordan, he added.Several sources in the hotel sector said cancellations have reached a worrying 50 percent, while one tour operator said that for every 3,000 tourists originally booked to travel to Jordan in the coming months 1,200 are cancelling.Tourism revenue in Jordan was estimated at one billion dollars (700 million euros) in 2010, representing 14 percent of the gross domestic product.The country's biggest tourist attraction is the ancient city of Petra, and visitors to Jordan often opt for a package tour that also includes Egypt, itself hit by a sharp drop in tourism following the uprising in February that toppled long-time president Hosni Mubarak.The popular revolt in Egypt followed a similar uprising in Tunisia that led to the downfall of strongman Zine el Abidine Ben Ali. Libya, meanwhile, lying between the two, is in the throes of a rebellion while Yemen, Bahrain and Oman on the Gulf have also experienced unrest.
In France, an official with one of the country's top tourism operators, Voyageurs du Monde, described Jordan as a catastrophe with cancellations nearing 50 percent.People are in fact more worried about what may happen in other countries than those that have already had a revolution, said company chairman Jean-Francois Rial. They're wondering whether Jordan's King Abdullah is going to be toppled, whether the king of Morocco might have trouble and the same even for China's leader.
Syria is also nervously watching developments and has lowered its forecast of tourist arrivals.We don't expect more than an 11 to 12 percent increase in the number of tourists because of the situation, Tourism Minister Saadallah Agha al-Qalaa recently said, adding that annual growth since 2000 had stood at 15 percent.
Ghassan Chahine, owner of Naya Tours in Damascus, said his agency had received 35 to 40 percent cancellations for the peak season that runs from March through May and concerns mainly European tourists.People tend to think that the revolts taking place extend to the entire region even though we are telling them that nothing is happening in Syria, Chahine told AFP.Not so long ago, we were begging hotels that were fully booked to find us rooms and now they are calling us looking for customers, Chahine said, adding that the downturn will translate into hundreds of thousands of dollars in losses.But despite all the gloom and doom, tourism professionals point to the industry's capacity to rebound quickly.People's perceptions change very quickly, said Sean Tipton, of the Association of British Tour Operators.He said Egypt is by far the biggest market in the region for British tourists with one million visiting the country every year.As soon as we saw the scenes (of unrest) in Cairo and other cities it had a very direct impact, Tipton said. My experience in the travel industry is that the British tourists tend to be fairly resilient and have fairly short memories,he added. So it doesn't take long for a country to bounce back in the reservations.
Official: GCC weighing stability fund
By TAREK EL-TABLAWY, AP Business Writer - MAR 6,11
CAIRO – Gulf Arab officials are considering setting up a fund that would help Bahrain and Oman deal with some of the economic issues that have helped stoke unrest in those two nations, an official with the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council said Sunday.GCC finance ministers had met a day earlier in the Saudi Arabian capital and expectations were that they would announce what officials, ahead of that gathering, had described as a Gulf Marshall Plan to help Manama and Muscat. The plan called for a hefty financial contribution by the four wealthier GCC member states that would target key economic issues such as a housing shortage and unemployment.The financial boost is seen as pivotal for Bahrain and Oman, whose concurrent protests have brought the unrest that has thrown the Arab world into unprecedented turmoil right to Saudi Arabia's doorstep. It also threatens to test the durability of the region's monarchies, with nascent calls for demonstrations focusing largely on greater accountability by the rulers and a more direct political participation in government by the people.The political commitment is there for such a plan, said John Sfakianakis, chief economist with the Riyadh, Saudi Arabia-based Banque Saudi-Fransi.
Bahrain's protests are more rooted in sectarian strife, with the Shiite-majority demanding greater rights from the Sunni-minority monarchy. Oman, meanwhile, is seeing building pressures against the country's sultan, who has tried to stave off the unrest with a Cabinet reshuffle and some financial measures. But neither country has the wealth of the other oil-rich GCC nations: Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.Momentum is building in the region for demonstrations. Calls for protests in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia this week have surfaced, and Riyadh issued a statement outlawing all forms of demonstrations as contrary to Islamic laws and Saudi values. It warned that security forces were authorized to take action against violators.Unrest in Saudi Arabia is particularly worrisome for many. The kingdom sits atop the world's largest proven reserves of conventional crude oil — much of it in the eastern provinces where the country's minority Shiite population lives. The violence in Libya has already rattled oil markets and even the perception that oil supplies from Saudi Arabia could be disrupted would be enough to send shock waves through global oil markets.GCC foreign ministers are slated to meet in the Emirati capital Abu Dhabi on Monday, with the GCC's secretary general quoted in Gulf newspapers as saying that the meeting takes on particular importance given the unrest in the region.It appears unlikely that the ministers will make any formal announcement about providing funds for Bahrain and Oman during that gathering, and many experts expect that the steps could take place behind the scenes, without the official framework of a fund or a specific plan.Analysts said the general hope in the region is that propping up Bahrain and Oman will help the two nations address some of the economic catalysts behind the disquiet and that, in turn, could buy other GCC nations with more time to gradually phase in at least some of the political reforms that are being demanded.The money will be allocated, said Sfakianakis.It's a matter of how they will do it and what will the mechanisms be.
UK's Huhne says unrest shows need to wean off oil
– Sun Mar 6, 5:10 am ET
LONDON (AFP) – The unrest in the Arab world makes it all the more urgent to wean Britain off oil and onto greener sources of power, its energy minister said Sunday.
Britain has no other option but to speed up efforts to move away from oil towards other energy sources, Energy and Climate Change Secretary Chris Huhne told The Observer newspaper, as prices at the petrol pumps soar.Britain will launch a new national Carbon Plan this week aimed at getting government departments to shake up their operations and make their projects less dependent on fossil fuels.Getting off the oil hook is made all the more urgent by the crisis in the Middle East, Huhne said.We cannot afford to go on relying on such a volatile source of energy when we can have clean, green and secure energy from low-carbon sources.The Carbon Plan is about ensuring that the whole of government is engaged in a joined-up effort to lead us into a low-carbon world.The Carbon Plan will be launched this week by Prime Minister David Cameron, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and Huhne.Non-governmental organisations will be asked to play a monitoring role to ensure progress across departments, The Observer said.It is being published in draft form ahead of a final version before 2012. It will be updated annually, with progress being published quarterly on the Downing Street website, the weekly said.Public anger is mounting at the cost of petrol in Britain -- most of which goes to the Treasury.Finance minister George Osborne hinted Saturday that in his budget later this month, he might drop the one penny above inflation tax rise in a bid to ease the pressure on motorists.Alan Duncan, Britain's junior international development minister and a former oil trader, warned Saturday that the price of a barrel of crude could top $200 (140 euros) if the unrest worsens.
Israeli warplanes raid Gaza City: witnesses
– Sat Mar 5, 5:42 pm ET
GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories (AFP) – Israeli warplanes launched four raids on Gaza City late Saturday, witnesses and security services reported, after a rocket was fired from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel.During the assault, an Israeli F-16 fired a missile at a target in the city's Zeitoun district, but there were no casualties, said the sources.Three of the raids targetted bases of the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip. These attacks caused significant damage both to the targets and to neighbouring houses.
Two other raids targetted the north and south of the city.An Israeli army statement said it had carried out three air raids.Two had targetted terrorist targets in the central Gaza Strip, in what appeared to be a reference to Brigade sites.A third had been on a tunnel intended for armed raids into Israel or operations against army positions along the border with the Gaza Strip, said the statement.The army said the raids had come after a rocket was fired Saturday from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel.This morning a rocket fired from Gaza fell in the western sector of the Negev (desert in southern Israel), without causing any casualties or damage, an army spokeswoman said earlier.Last Sunday, Israeli tank fire on a group of militants in Gaza City killed one Palestinian, after rocket and mortar attacks on Israel and air raids launched in reprisal.Since the beginning of the year, army figures show more than 60 rockets or mortar rounds have been fired into southern Israel. Many have prompted retaliatory air raids.The attacks have continued despite calls by Hamas for armed groups to respect a truce with Israel.
A look at political unrest in the Middle East The Associated Press – Sat Mar 5, 12:23pm ET - A look at anti-government protests, political unrest and key developments in the Middle East on Saturday:
LIBYA:Moammar Gadhafi loyalists sweep into the opposition-held city closest to Tripoli, tightening security around the regime-held capital. To the east, rebel forces capture a key oil port as the country veers toward civil war.The contrasting fortunes of the two warring sides suggest that the conflict in Libya could last for weeks and maybe months, with neither side mustering enough military power to decisively defeat the other. The government is fighting fiercely to maintain its hold in Tripoli and surrounding areas and the rebels are pushing their front westward from their eastern stronghold.
YEMEN:Increasing pressure on Yemen's embattled president, several members of his ruling Congress Party resign as tens of thousands take to the streets to demand his ouster and Britain warns its citizens against all travel to the impoverished Arab nation. President Ali Abdullah Saleh rejects a proposal by a coalition of Yemeni opposition groups to end the political standoff by agreeing to step down by year's end.
BAHRAIN:Bahrain's Shiite protesters form a huge human chain around the capital as their campaign to loosen the Sunni monarchy's grip on power in the strategic Gulf nation enters the third week. No police are in sight when thousands of protesters — men and women — hold hands to encircle Manama, where Bahrain's Shiite majority has been staging daily marches and demonstrations to end what they say are discriminatory policies and political persecution.
EGYPT:Hundreds of Egyptians march on buildings belonging to the internal security service in Cairo, a day after they storm one of its offices and beat up officers in a show of anger at the agency blamed for some of the worst human rights violations during ousted President Hosni Mubarak's rule. The fate of Egypt's internal security agencies remains one of the most contentious issue facing the military rulers who took charge of the country from Mubarak when he was forced to step down on Feb. 11 after the 18-day popular uprising.
SAUDI ARABIA:Saudi Arabia's Interior Ministry says demonstrations will not be tolerated following a protest by about 100 members of the Shiite minority in the eastern region of the kingdom. The ministry says in a statement that the kingdom bans all demonstrations because they contradict Islamic laws and society's values.
The ministry says some people have tried to go around the law to achieve illegitimate aims, and it warned that security forces were authorized to act against violators.
OMAN: Government officials say protests demanding economic reforms by Oman's ruler reached a key oil region in the Arabian Peninsula country.The officials say workers stage a sit-in at a main oil field in Haima, about 300 miles (500 kilometers) southwest of the capital, Muscat, demanding more state investments in the area. The officials speak on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.
ALGERIA: Algerian pro-Democracy protesters' fifth bid in six weeks to march in the capital is again put down by police.Unlike pro-Democracy movements in neighboring Tunisia and Libya, Algeria's protest movements have yet to get off the ground. Police put down three separate march bids in the capital that also drew demonstrators who turned out in favor of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika. Many Algerians say they are tired of conflict after being subjected to years of violence due to an Islamist insurgency.
US favors protecting long-term Mideast allies: report
– Sat Mar 5, 12:04 pm ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) – President Barack Obama's administration is settling on a Middle East strategy that favors keeping longtime Arab allies who are willing to reform in power, The Wall Street Journal reported late Friday.Citing unnamed officials and diplomats, the newspaper said the administration is leaning toward this approach even if that means the full democratic demands of Arab citizens might have to wait.
Instead of pushing for immediate change -- as it did in Egypt and now Libya -- the United States is urging protesters from Bahrain to Morocco to work with existing rulers toward what some officials and diplomats are now calling regime alteration, the report said.The moderate US approach has emerged after lobbying by Arab governments who were alarmed that Obama had abandoned Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak, The Journal said.The Arab rulers were worried that, if Washington did the same to the king of Bahrain, a chain of revolts could sweep them from power too, the paper noted.A senior administration official acknowledged the past month has been a learning process for policy makers, the report said.What we have said throughout this is that there is a need for political, economic and social reform, but the particular approach will be country by country, The Journal quotes the unnamed official as saying.
Israeli fear greater peace deal pressure: poll
– Sat Mar 5, 11:01 am ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Most Israelis believe their country will come under increased international pressure to strike a peace accord with the Palestinians in the aftermath of massive Arab uprisings, public radio said on Saturday, citing an opinion poll.The survey said 55 percent of those polled said they expect stepped up pressure while 34 percent disagreed and 11 percent had no opinion.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing growing isolation over the impasse in peace talks and planning a new initiative to set up a Palestinian state within temporary borders, press reports said on Friday.He is largely expected to announce his new diplomatic initiative during a visit to the United States in May.Details are still sketchy, but the idea is believed to involve establishing a Palestinian state within temporary borders, while providing guarantees about talks on final status issues, the Maariv newspaper said.But Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas reiterated on Saturday he will only accept a deal that calls for a Palestinian state with borders that existed before the 1967 Six-Day War.
During that conflict Israel seized the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, as well as east Jerusalem -- the mostly Arab part of the city now annexed by Israel that the Palestinians want as the capital of their future state.Since peace talks ran aground late last year over an intractable dispute about settlements, the Palestinians have been pursuing a raft of diplomatic initiatives aimed at garnering world support for a unilateral declaration of independence.Several nations -- notably Latin American countries -- have also announced their recognition of a Palestinian state.Israel is fiercely opposed to such a move, arguing that negotiations are the only way to end the conflict and establish a Palestinian state.But there are also other reasons forcing Netanyahu to come up with a fresh political initiative -- namely, Israel's growing diplomatic isolation.That isolation was clearly demonstrated last month when 14 out of 15 members of the UN Security Council voted in favour of a resolution condemning Jewish settlement activity.The resolution was quashed when the United States vetoed it.A total of 500 people were surveyed by an independent polling institute which placed the margin of error at 4.5 percentage points.
Arab unrest could double oil price: minister
– Sat Mar 5, 5:48 am ET
LONDON (AFP) – The price of a barrel of crude could double if the unrest in the Arab world deteriorates, oil trader turned British international development minister Alan Duncan warned Saturday.Duncan, who has 30 years' business experience in the Gulf, told The Times newspaper that the price of a barrel of crude could top $200 (£123), well above the record high of $147 (£90) reached in July 2008.If extremists used the instability in the Arab world to bomb oil tankers, pipelines or Saudi reserves, prices could even hit $250 (£154) a barrel, Duncan said.The Times said analysts fear such highs could trigger another recession in Britain.I've been saying in government for two months... $200 is on the cards if this goes wrong, if anyone is reckless and foments unrest. All I'm predicting is danger, said Duncan.It could be very serious. If crude oil doubles, you're going to have a very serious spike (in petrol prices). Try living without it for a week.The British government is under pressure over the price at the pumps, with 63 percent of the cost going to the exchequer.If the worst happened, current prices of £1.30 ($2.10, 1.50 euros) a litre at the pump could look like a luxury, Duncan said, warning of £4 a litre.A Twittered-up generation now has massive power. All Arab countries are moving on. But they are all different, he said.The powers are shifting but you can't do it overnight. We are asking them to do at the flick of a switch what we took centuries to do.The majority of these rulers are not dictators. These are countries with their own history and cultures. Who are we to lecture? We must treat these countries with respect.The people who want all unelected leaders to go should remember Iran, Duncan said.It didn't work with the shah, we must pray it works in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya.At the moment this is secular, economic and demographic but if it goes wrong you will see Islamic fundamentalism becoming the only vehicle for people's grievances,he warned.
EU's Ashton mulls scrapping Mideast envoy job
– Fri Mar 4, 12:35 pm ET
BRUSSELS (AFP) – EU chief diplomat Catherine Ashton has left the job of special envoy to the Middle East vacant while she decides whether to scrap the post, a decision that disappointed the Palestinians on Friday.The move comes at a sensitive time when the international community is trying to convince Israelis and Palestinians to resume talks, which broke down late last year over Jewish settlement construction in the occupied West Bank.Belgian diplomat Marc Otte, who held the post since 2003, was not replaced after his term ended this week.Ashton's spokeswoman, Maja Kocijancic, said the EU is taking time to decide on the position because the bloc is overhauling its diplomacy with the nascent European External Action Service taking shape this year.It is an organisational issue, Kocijancic said. It is not a change in policy.A diplomat said it will probably be several months before Ashton decides whether to name a new envoy.A final decision will be taken at a later time, probably in the fall, the diplomat told AFP on condition of anonymity.
Ashton, who heads the new EU diplomatic corps, is reviewing the bloc's network of special envoys and representatives in order to determine their usefulness.The EU's foreign and security policy chief has made her personal involvement in the diplomatic efforts in the Middle East a priority and prefers to take the dossier in her own hands, another diplomat said.The English baroness is close to the special envoy of the diplomatic Quartet in the Middle East, former British prime minister Tony Blair, her political mentor in the Labour Party.Ashton has given one of her top advisers for political affairs, Germany's Helga Schmid, the task of following Otte's dossier.Handing the work to someone busy with a wide range of issues was criticised by some European diplomats, with one saying the Middle East envoy, a job created in 1996, must be a full-time job.A top Palestinian negotiator, Nabil Shaath, said he hoped the EU would provide an explanation for its decision.We need a special EU independent representative for the peace process and we need the EU's own peace project,he said.
Gaza banks shut down after Hamas confiscation By IBRAHIM BARZAK, Associated Press – Thu Mar 3, 12:03 pm ET
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – All banks in the Gaza Strip temporarily shut down on Thursday after Hamas-affiliated men forced a local branch to cash some $500,000 in checks.Gaza bankers said the ruling Hamas militant group sent police to confiscate the money from a branch of the Palestine Investment Bank. They said the police were accompanied by members of a committee Hamas had appointed in 2009 to oversee the Palestine Investment Fund, which is run by the rival Palestinian government in the West Bank.The men confiscated checks from the fund, and then ordered bank tellers to cash them, though the account didn't contain enough money. The bankers spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution.The Hamas Interior Ministry said the police helped to seize the money because the investment fund had improperly transferred funds out of Gaza to the West Bank. Hamas denied the money was taken at gunpoint.The investment fund is one of the few institutions affiliated with the rival Fatah movement still operating in Gaza. After seizing power in Gaza in a violent takeover in 2007, Hamas shut down most agencies connected to Fatah, the party of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.Hamas has confiscated funds several times since the Hamas takeover, part of the bitter rivalry between the two dueling Palestinian governments. The Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority now governs only in the West Bank.The Palestine Monetary Authority, which regulates Palestinian banks, closed all Gaza branches Thursday to protest the confiscation. They are to reopen Sunday.
Israeli settlers protest on Day of Rage
– Thu Mar 3, 11:55 am ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Settlers and their supporters burned tyres and blocked traffic across Israel on Thursday during a Day of Rage to protest police action during a settlement outpost demolition earlier in the week.Police and media said the protesters had taken part in a number of attempts to block roads and train tracks across the country, but that security forces had successfully countered their actions.An AFP photographer saw around a dozen people being carted off by police near Modi'in, half-way between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, but police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said no one had been formally arrested in connection with the protests.
On Thursday morning, the demonstrators tried to block a main highway and burned tyres at the entrance to Jerusalem, but police arrived on the scene to dismantle the impromptu roadblocks, Rosenfeld said.News website Ynet reported that around 50 right-wing activists gathered on a West Bank road to demonstrate and some of the protesters had slashed the tyres of a police car.The day of protests came in response to the demolition of a caravan, a tent and another half-built structure at the Havat Gilad outpost near Nablus on Monday. The outpost was built without permission from the Israeli government.During the incident, settlers say police used excessive force to remove demonstrators, using stun grenades and paint ball guns against them.Some hardline settlers threatened to carry out price tag attacks against Palestinians on Thursday. This involves attacks on the local population as a direct response to anti-settler activity by the Israeli government.But despite the threats, there did not appear to be any signs of widespread action against Palestinians by sundown.Police had been on high alert all day, including in the West Bank, to prevent violence, Rosenfeld told AFP.
Major Palestinian party looks to oust Fayyad
By Mohammed Assadi – Thu Mar 3, 11:52 am ET
RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) – Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' dominant Fatah political faction has demanded that he sack Western-backed Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, according to a letter shown to Reuters on Thursday.The letter, signed by senior Fatah officials, was sent to Abbas on Saturday, but the president did not take it seriously, a Fatah official told Reuters.However, the request underlined deep political friction at the heart of the Palestinian Authority, with many Fatah activists clearly frustrated by Fayyad, who has no significant political base of his own but wields substantial power.Fayyad, a former World Bank economist, is widely credited by Western governments with transforming the institutional landscape in the West Bank, successfully building the core structures needed for a planned independent Palestinian state.As prime minister he controls finances and security, leaving many Fatah members to complain bitterly in private that his high-profile activities are overshadowing their own work.We suggest you reconsider re-appointing Dr. Fayyad and (instead) ask that a strong Fatah figure do the job, said the letter, backed by Fatah's central revolutionary council.
Looking to show his commitment for change in the wake of popular protests across the Arab world, Abbas on February 14 asked Fayyad to appoint a new cabinet and prepare for elections.Talks aimed at drawing up a new list of ministers have not gone as quickly as hoped, and the Fatah discontent is likely to further complicate Fayyad's task.Fatah was particularly upset when Fayyad proposed forming a unity government with Hamas Islamists, who seized control of the Gaza Strip in 2007 after a brief civil war with Fatah forces.Hamas rejected Fayyad's advances and denounced him as a puppet of the West, which provides much of the aid needed to prop up the West Bank economy under Israeli occupation.Fatah has dominated Palestinian politics for generations and many activists are angered by Abbas's apparent reliance on Fayyad, saying it risks eroding their credibility.(Writing by Mohammed Assadi; Editing by Jon Hemming)
