Hamas accuses Abbas of wrecking unity govt talks

BEIRUT, Oct 11 (Reuters) Hamas today accused Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction of ruining Qatari mediation to form a unity government and providing political cover for Western-imposed sanctions.

Osama Hamdan, Hamas's top official in Lebanon, told a news conference that Hamas remained committed to a unity government but that the once-dominant Fatah was determined to overturn the militant Islamists' landslide victory in January elections.

''We remain committed to a unity government. Our hands are stretched out to this and what we presented to the Qatari foreign minister guarantees its achievement,'' Hamdan said.

''The one who is ruining all the efforts is the (Palestinian) Authority president and his team. They are providing political cover for American-Israeli sanctions.'' President Abbas's aides said yesterday that the Palestinian president might appoint an emergency government or call early elections after the latest efforts to form a unity government failed.

A stalemate between President Abbas and the Hamas-led government over agreeing a unity cabinet has triggered the worst internal fighting in a decade and stirred fears of civil war.

Palestinians had hoped the formation of a unity government would end a crippling Western embargo in place since Hamas took office after stunning Fatah to win the elections.

Hamas has denied talks were at a dead end, but said the latest initiative, presented in Gaza by Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr al-Thani, was unacceptable because it included recognition of Israel.

Sheikh Hamad left Gaza yesterday. But the office of Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, of Hamas, today said it had received assurances from Qatar's Foreign Ministry that it would continue the brokering efforts.

Hamas, which advocates the Jewish state's destruction, says it will abide only by peace agreements with Israel that it believes are in the interests of the Palestinian people.

Mr Hamdan said Fatah was declaring that talks had failed because it wants them to fail.

''They don't want a unity government since (U.S. President George W.) Bush told them this,'' he said.

''This team's final objective is to overturn the choice of our people by any means and to implement a programme that frees (Israeli Prime Minister Ehud) Olmert from his political impasse and serves America's vision of the New Middle East,'' he added.

''We welcomed the Qatari mediation from the start ... We were surprised when Abu Mazen and his team said that their agreement to any plan was linked to U.S. backing for it,'' he said, using President Abbas's nickname.

Reuters SHB DB2227