Abbas hopes to have a unity gov't by end of month

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Saturday that he hoped to form a coalition government with the Islamic Hamas party by the end of the month. "I tell my people that we have achieved great progress on the way to forming a national unity government that can end the siege and open the horizons for political solutions that will end the occupation forever," Abbas said at a ceremony marking two years since the death of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. "I expect, God willing, that this government will see the light of day before the end of this month," he said.