Palestinian Finance Minister Salam Fayyad met on Saturday in West Bank city of Bethlehem with visiting German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, a rare meeting between a senior European official and a member of the Hamas-led Palestinian unity government.

The two ministers discussed the general situation in the Palestinian territories amid Israeli closure and Western siege on the government.

"The meeting aimed at easing and getting over the daily woe of the Palestinians and finding out good ways for a peaceful and honorable life," Fayyad, an independent, told reporters.

Fayyad urged the Western countries to end its boycott of the Palestinian unity government to avoid a financial crisis, while complaining about the Israeli withholding of Palestinian tax revenues, saying the government was unable to pay salaries for some 165,000 employees.

Fayyad said he asked Steinmeier, whose country holds the EU presidency, to expand the temporary mechanism for funnelling aid to the Palestinian people and paying for the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) in addition to reduce the debts owed by the Palestinian private sector.

The western donors froze its aid to the PNA since Hamas came to power last year. The formation of the coalition which incorporates both Hamas and the moderate Fatah has so far failed to bring about an end to the embargo.

Meanwhile, Steinmeier has also met with Palestinian Minister of Tourism and plans to hold another meeting with Mustafa al- Barghouti, the Information Minister.

However, the German diplomat will not meet any Hamas minister. The European Union said it has only approved meetings with non- Hamas members of the government.

Source: Xinhua