Hamas blames Fatah for delay in forming new gov't

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
The Palestinian foreign minister has blamed the Fatah Party and its leader, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, for delaying the formation of a national unity government with Hamas. Foreign Minister Mahmoud Zahar, a Hamas official, said Abbas' desire to create a technocrat government was a "dangerous" recession and unacceptable. "There was a regression in Fatah and Abbas' stance from the national reconciliation document," Zahar said in the Syrian capital late Thursday after meeting with Palestinian radical factions. He added that if a new government is not formed, the current Hamas-led government would continue to operate. He also repeated the militant group's stance that it would not approve any government that recognizes Israel and renounces violence against the Jewish state.