Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister-designate Ismail Haneya met again in Gaza City on Monday evening to continue discussions on the formation of a national unity government.

It was the second meeting between the two in the past 24 hours aimed at removing all obstacles in the way of the formation of the unity government.

Abbas and Haneya were expected to solve the issue over the sharing of the new government's portfolios.

According to sources, the ranking of Ziad Abu Amr, an independent candidate for the post of foreign minister, became a dividing issue in the talks.

According to the Mecca deal, Hamas and Fatah have the right to nominate three independents.

But Abu Amr said that he would not accept the post at the expense of other independents.

The choice for the interior minister would also be a thorny issue as the candidate has to be an independent with recommendation from both Hamas and Fatah.

Haneya is likely to temporarily hold the post of the interior minister in the new government before a new minister is chosen, the sources said.

Haneya said earlier that he believes that the coalition would not be announced before the end of next week.

Source: Xinhua