Israel mulls suspending ties over Abbas-Hamas deal

JERUSALEM, Feb 12 (Reuters) Israel is considering suspending contacts with moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas if his new unity government with Hamas does not meet international demands, Israeli officials said today.

The unity deal and Israel's response could hamper US efforts to revive long-stalled peace talks. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice plans a three-way summit with Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in Jerusalem on February 19.

''One option under serious discussion is severing contacts with Abu Mazen,'' said one of the officials involved in the deliberations, referring to Abbas by his moniker.

An Israeli defence official said ties with Mohammed Dahlan, a top Abbas aide who had spearheaded Fatah's power struggle with Hamas, were also in doubt.

Dahlan took part in the Saudi-brokered unity talks, which led to the signing of a power-sharing pact in Mecca last Thursday, though his role in the new Palestinian government is unclear.

''Things are really in the air,'' the defence official said.

Israeli officials said any suspension may only be temporary.

Top advisers to Olmert, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and other ministers were to meet later today to consider the options.

Olmert's spokeswoman, Miri Eisin, declined to comment on what she called ''hypotheticals''.

FACTIONAL TENSIONS A Hamas official had said Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh could unveil the new government before a February 21 meeting of the ''Quartet'' of West Asia peace mediators.

But Salah al-Bardaweel, spokesman of the Hamas parliament bloc, said today it might take another four weeks because Fatah and Hamas had yet to agree on who would take the deputy prime minister and interior minister posts.

Underlining the continued tensions, residents said former Palestinian attorney general and Fatah member Khaled al-Qidra was abducted by four gunmen in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on Monday. In the nearby town of Rafah, unidentified assailants blew up a store.

More than 90 Palestinians were killed in Gaza in factional warfare between late December and last week's unity deal.

Olmert said yesterday it was too soon to pass judgment on the unity government, but top Israeli officials said the agreement between Abbas and Hamas failed to meet conditions set by the Quartet for ending the crippling economic sanctions imposed after Hamas came to power last March.

''We expect the Palestinian government ... to accept all three of the international community's conditions, and that includes recognition of Israel's right to exist, full acceptance and implementation of former agreements, complete stopping of terror actions and a clear renunciation of terror and violence,'' Eisin said.

The February 19 summit with Rice had been expected to explore the contours of a Palestinian state but officials said the focus would be on American and Israeli concerns about the unity deal.

The Mecca agreement made no explicit commitment to recognise Israel. A letter from Abbas reappointing Haniyeh as prime minister contained a vague call to the movement to ''abide by the interests of the Palestinian people'' and ''respect'' past agreements and international law.

A political adviser to Haniyeh said on Saturday the new government would not recognise the Jewish state. Haniyeh was due to return to Gaza and address Palestinians later today.

The United States is also reassessing its strategy, American officials said. Washington has threatened in the past to shun members of Fatah if they joined a Hamas-led government, but officials said ties with Abbas were unlikely to be affected.

Reuters MQA VV1650