Haneya to attend upcoming Arab summit in Saudi Arabia

Palestinian Prime Minister-designate Ismail Haneya is determined to attend an annual Arab summit scheduled to be held in Saudi Arabia on March 28, a senior Hamas official said Tuesday.

Speaking to reporters, Haneya's political advisor Ahmad Yousef confirmed that Haneya will attend the forthcoming Arab summit in Saudi capital of Riyadh alongside with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

In addition, Yousef said that the announcement of a new national unity government, which would be presented before the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) on March 17, will comply partially with the requirements of the Quartet.

The Quartet Committee, which comprises the United States, the European Union, Russian and the United Nations, has stipulated that the Palestinian government has to recognize Israel's right to exist, renounce violence and accept the previous peace agreements.

Yousef said that the names of the Hamas ministers will be announced soon, adding that Hamas' new ministers will not be PLC members.

He also said that some of the minister candidates were in Haneya's first government and others are new.

He asserted that the new government, which will be supported by the Arab countries, will call on the world and the European Union to stop blaming the Palestinians for the delay in reaching a political settlement.

Yousef stressed that it is not right to impose more conditions on the Palestinians as the Israelis should also comply with their commitments.

Source: Xinhua