Abbas: New Palestinian gov't will not be a Hamas gov't

PA president meets King Abdullah in Jordan, says US, Israel misunderstood Palestinian unity deal: "This government is not Fatah or Hamas, this is my government and will follow my strategy and policy."

By JPOST.COM STAFF
mahmoud abbas_311 (photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem)
mahmoud abbas_311
(photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem)
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday said that both the US and the Israelis misunderstood the Palestinian unity deal, emphasizing that the next government would not be a Hamas government.
"We have reconciled and we are working on the formation of a government made up of technocrats," Palestinian news agency WAFA quoted Abbas as saying following his meeting with Jordanian King Abdullah in Amman.
RELATED:Zahar: Palestinians should not settle for 1967 borders'UN recognition plea is not intended to isolate Israel'
Abbas stated that the government would be composed of independent people and would not include members of Fatah or Hamas.
"This government is not Fatah or Hamas, this is my government and will follow my strategy and policy. It is a government of independents, not of organizations," he stated.
Abbas thanked Abdullah for his part in convincing US President Barack Obama to support the formation of a Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders. King Abdullah met with Obama last week in Washington, prior to the US president's Middle East speech in which he said the basis for peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians should be the 1967 lines with mutually agreed upon land swaps.
Following their meeting, Abbas said that he and Abdullah discussed the issues that the PA president plans to discuss with the Arab League in the wake of Obama's speech as well as the unity deal between Fatah and Hamas.