EU welcomes progress in forming Palestinian unity government

The European Union (EU) on Monday welcomed the announcement by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas that he had reached an agreement with Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh over the formation of a unity government.

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said in a statement that he hopes Abbas will soon succeed in his efforts to form a unity government.

"That development could have a very positive influence to re- energize the peace process," he said.

Abbas said on Monday he and Haniyeh had agreed on the formation of a unity government after months of on-and-off talks.

"Hopefully in the coming days we will begin forming the government of national unity," Abbas said.

An aide of Abbas said the president would dissolve the existing Hamas-led government within 48 hours to clear the way for the formation of a coalition.

Hamas, seen as a terrorist group by the EU, the United States and Israel, swept to power in the January elections and formed a government by itself.

The West and Israel insisted that Hamas must renounce violence, recognize Israel's right to exist and accept previous peace agreements, but the requests were rejected.

The West cut off hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to Palestinians, and the Hamas government was subsequently unable to pay salaries to its tens of thousands of civil servants.

Source: Xinhua