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Haneya: New cabinet ready to talk with Quartet
28/3/2006 10:29

Incoming Palestinian Prime Minister Ismaeel Haneya promised yesterday that his new Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas)-led cabinet is ready to negotiate with the Quartet Committee for peace in the Middle East to end the ongoing regional conflict.

The government is ready to meet with the Quartet, which groups the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia, in order to find a solution to the ongoing conflict and achieve peace and settlement in our region, Haneya said, while making a speech before the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), or parliament.

Haneya, however, vowed that his government is seeking to establish an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital with full sovereignty.

"We reject partial solutions and temporary borders, he said, adding we reject any project that lessens any of our legitimate rights, mainly the unilateral plans aiming at turning our homeland into isolated cantons that kills any opportunity for a living state.

Realizing the cabinet's mission is very heavy on all levels and fields, Haneya said we are standing before a critical stage, which needs efforts and cooperation of "all our people".

He, meanwhile, called on the U.S. administration to strengthen the Palestinian choice and not to impose siege on the people by threats and warnings.

"Our cabinet will hold right ties with the whole world countries, including the United Nations, its Security Council and international organizations aiming at strengthening the international stability," said Haneya.

The prime minister-designated noted that the EU offered lot of aids to the Palestinian people, supported their right in freedom and had serious stances in criticizing the occupation policies, highlighting serious ties with the EU.

But the EU should reconsider its followed policies about the conflict in the region, he urged, expecting the EU to have a greater role in pressurizing the Israeli occupation to pull out its troops from the occupied Palestinian territories and ending its violence against the Palestinian people.

Reiterating his call on the international community, mainly the Quartet Committee, to take side with the justice to achieve just and comprehensive peace in the region, Haneya promised the donor countries with two guarantees.

First, all the money would be spent in infrastructure and financing projects and it won't go to any other activity or party, he said.

The second guarantee is that the donor countries can directly observe and watch the way how their money is spent and our cabinet would offer them all needed facility to observe where and how the money are spent, he added.

Haneya presented on Monday the program of his Hamas-led cabinet before the members of the PLC for approval, while reading a long statement that included his cabinet's program, which focused on political, economical, security and social issues.



Xinhua News