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New Palestinian cabinet to hold 1st session
31/3/2006 15:29

Palestinian Deputy Prime Minister Nasser el-Dein al-Sha'er said on Thursday that the new Hamas-led cabinet will hold its first session on Monday after sworn in Wednesday.

Sha'er told Palestinian radio "Voice of Palestine" that Israeli acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's unilateral plan to fix permanent Israeli-Palestinian borders by 2010 would top the agenda.

He said that Olmert adopted a political platform that doesn't consider the Palestinians' legitimate rights.

"He presented a platform based on unilateral separation and imposing facts on the ground," he added.

Olmert, whose Kadima party narrowly won Tuesday's Israeli parliamentary elections, said in his victory speech on Wednesday that he would define the Israeli-Palestinian borders, even without the agreement of the Palestinians.

The incoming Prime Minister said he would toe the line of his predecessor Ariel Sharon, who remained in a coma, and unilaterally evacuate the majority of West Bank settlements in return to preserve large settlement blocs.

Olmert has ruled out peace talks with Hamas government unless it renounces violence, recognizes Israel's right to exist and respects previous deals.



Xinhua News