Hamas to present Palestinian cabinet to Abbas

GAZA, Mar 19 (Reuters) The Islamist militant group Hamas will present its cabinet to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas today after failing to persuade any rival factions to join a coalition government.

The group's inability to attract partners and its intention to appoint Hamas loyalists to top ministerial posts could bolster US and Israeli efforts to isolate the new government.

Hamas, which eclipsed Abbas's long-dominant Fatah faction in a January 25 general election, has completed its cabinet just over a week before Israel's own parliamentary election on March 28.

Prime Minister-designate Ismail Haniyeh is expected to give the names to Abbas at around 9 p.m. (0030 hrs IST) in Gaza, later than previously scheduled, officials said.

Abbas said he expected parliament to convene soon for a vote of confidence in the Hamas government.

''Today I will meet brother Ismail Haniyeh and we will see the (formation) of the cabinet. After that the legal procedures will take place such as going to (parliament) and the swearing in,'' Abbas told a news conference at the Rafah terminal on the Egyptian border.

Aides to Abbas said he would not reject the cabinet even though he wants Hamas to change its government agenda, which calls for resistance against Israel by any means.

''I think the president will give them a chance,'' said senior Palestinian negotiator and Abbas confidant Saeb Erekat.

But Erekat said Abbas could exercise his constitutional right to fire the prime minister in the event of a crisis, such as a freezing of international aid.

In talks with Hamas before the Abbas-Haniyeh meeting, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine said it had turned down an offer to join the government, becoming the last faction to give a final ''no''.

Jamil al-Majdalawi, a PFLP leader, told Reuters that Hamas's political platform did not include ''a fundamental point for us -- that the PLO (Palestine Liberation Organisation) is the sole, legitimate representative of the Palestinian people''.

NO DEAL Israel has said it will not deal with a Hamas government.

Hamas is sworn to Israel's destruction and has rejected demands to recognise the Jewish state, renounce violence and accept interim peace accords -- conditions for continued Western aid.

Haniyeh has declined to identify any ministers but Hamas sources said its own members would head key portfolios, including the interior, foreign affairs and finance posts.

A list obtained by Reuters showed Hamas members would make up nearly half the 24-member cabinet. The rest would comprise independents and technocrats, including one Christian.

Abbas aides said they expected the confidence vote after the Israeli election. Hamas has an outright majority in parliament.

It is not clear how much of the estimated 1 billion dollar a year the Palestinians get in foreign aid might be withheld once a Hamas government is in power. Hamas has vowed to replace it with funds from Iran and other Muslim states.

Palestinians have also complained of growing food shortages in Gaza because of Israel's closure of the main commercial crossing into the strip. Israel has closed Karni off and on for the last two months, citing security concerns.

It was last closed on March 13.

The United States called a meeting for later today with Israeli, Palestinian, Egyptian and European officials to try to end the row, a US embassy spokesman said.

Mahmoud al-Zahar, a leader in Gaza whom Israel has tried to assassinate, will be foreign minister, Hamas sources have said.

Another Hamas leader, Saeed Seyam, would be interior minister. Omar Abdel-Razeq, a West Bank economics professor and Hamas election official, would take the finance portfolio.

Hamas staged nearly 60 suicide bombings against Israelis during an uprising that began in 2000 but has largely respected a year-old ceasefire. It says talks with Israel would be futile.

REUTERS SY BS2113