Abbas dismisses govt, declares emergency

Ramallah, West Bank, June 15: President Mahmoud Abbas signed decrees dissolving the Palestinian government and declaring a state of emergency across the West Bank and Gaza Strip, an Abbas spokesman said today.

''We have decided to do the following, to dismiss Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh,'' said Tayeb Abdel-Rahim, secretary general of the presidency, reading a statement from Abbas.

''We are declaring a state of emergency in all the lands of the Palestinian Authority ... and establishing a government authorised with implementing the regulations and instructions of the state of emergency,'' Abdel-Rahim said.

Abbas's secular Fatah movement had formed a unity government with Haniyeh of the Islamist Hamas in March.

Abbas's statement also indicated that he could call for early elections if the situation in the Palestinian territories stabilises.

''The president is determined to go back to the people as soon as the situation on the ground allows him to do so,'' Abdel-Rahim said.

The next parliamentary elections are scheduled for 2010 and presidential elections are set for 2009.

Palestinian lawmakers have argued whether Abbas can legally call early elections.

Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas official rejected Abbas's decrees, calling them ''worthless''.

''Prime Minister Haniyeh remains the head of the government even if it was dissolved by the president. According to the law the government remains a caretaker government,'' Abu Zuhri told sources.

Reuters

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