By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas on Thursday accused the United States of undermining efforts to form a new Palestinian coalition government.
"The US administration does not want the Palestinians to be unified. It puts obstacles in the way of this political coming together," Haniyeh told reporters. "It wants to extort the Palestinian people and the Palestinian government."
Haniyeh spoke a day after US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said a new Palestinian government would have to accept international demands to renounce violence and recognize Israel's right to exist.