Palestinians: Fayyad Resigns
Sources in the West Bank report that Palestinian PM has submitted resignation; Abbas calls on him to stay
Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad has submitted his resignation to President Mahmoud Abbas, the former said in a statement issued on Saturday. Meanwhile, senior sources in Abbas' Fatah party believe his statement is merely an act.
Fayyad says the resignation would take effect after the formation of a Palestinian unity government, but no later than the end of March. Fayyad's announcement comes just before the resumption of power-sharing talks between Abbas and his rivals from Hamas.
A senior Fatah official told Ynet that the party believes that, although the resignation will occur, its significance is negligible. "We understand that it's just another threatening act designed solely for the media."
The official said that if reconciliation efforts between the Palestinian Authority and Hamas will be successful, then Fayyad would have had to resign anyway as another prime minister, acceptable to both parties, would have been agreed upon during negotiations.
The official went on to reject the suggestion that aid money is being shunted through the Palestinian Authority only because of its current PM.
"The Americans are the ones making Fayyad's involvement a condition of aid. US money goes primarily to security. The European and Arab donors never made Fayyad's position a condition of their aid," he explained.
Despite official's suggestion that Fayyad as an individual leader is not important, short after the statement was issued Abbas called on the prime minister "continue with his work until we see the results" of Egyptian-sponsored talks between the rivals over forming a new unity government.
Fayyad was appointed by Abbas after Hamas' violent takeover of the Gaza Strip in 2007 and has been repeatedly told to step down by Hamas. If accurate, such a decision can be seen as a conciliatory gesture toward the militant group.
Meanwhile, harsh statements by a Hamas official in Gaza suggest that the organiztion is not appeased by the move. Fawzi Barhoum, a spokesman for militant group Hamas says Fayyad's government was unconstitutional and worked for private interests.
AP and Reuters contributed to this report
