Palestinian Islamic party Hamas announced today it had formed a government two weeks before a deadline but had failed to build a coalition with partners that might have softened the group's image.
In another possible setback, the Hamas government program is not expected to win the approval of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who is to meet with the group's leaders in Gaza later today. Abbas' aides said the Palestinian leader considers the Hamas platform too vague and wants it rewritten.
Hamas cannot present its Cabinet to parliament for approval without backing from the moderate Abbas, who was elected separately and wields considerable authority. However, Abbas cannot impose his own Cabinet line-up on Hamas, which swept January parliament elections and controls an absolute majority in the legislature.
Abbas is expected to put off the approval of a new government until after Israel's March 28 election, but his confidants say he is not ready to force a full-blown political crisis with the Islamic militants.
The new foreign minister will almost definitely be Mahmoud Zahar, a Hamas firebrand, according to a preliminary list given to The Associated Press by officials in Hamas and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a smaller PLO faction that was considering joining the government.
AP