Salah el-Bardaweil, spokesman for the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas),
said on Monday that the movement hasn't received any official response from
Fatah movement on whether it would join the new cabinet or not. Al-Bardaweil
made the remarks to reporters, denying the media reports that Fatah has decided
not to join the new government to be formed and led by Hamas.
Hamas on Monday resumed talks with leaders of Palestinian political groups
represented in the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC). The talks are held at
Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Zahar's house in Gaza.
Al-Bardaweil told the reporters that dialogue was aiming to hear the final
decisions by those political powers on whether to join a Hamas-led coalition
cabinet or not.
"We are seeking through this dialogue to reach a point where we have
identified points of agreement and points of disagreement," he said.
Hamas had sent its draft political program to all groups and they will
discuss it in details during Monday's talks, according to the spokesman.
Winning the Jan. 25 Palestinian legislative elections by a landslide, Hamas
is expected to form a new government within weeks.
The militant group, which calls for Israel's destruction, has been holding
talks with parliament parties including the Fatah movement over the formation of
a national unity government. But Fatah, long dominant on the Palestinian
political stage but defeated by Hamas in the January ballot, seems unlikely to
join a Hamas-led cabinet, it was reported.