GAZA CITY
The Palestinian national unity government is expected to be announced on Tuesday or Wednesday, a senior Fatah official said Thursday.
Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Amin Maqboul, secretary-general of Fatah's Revolutionary Council, said that Ramallah-based Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah is widely expected to lead the unity government.
Last month, rival groups Fatah and Hamas hammered out a reconciliation deal with a view to ending the rifts that have marred their relations since 2007.
The deal calls for the formation of a national unity government to serve until legislative elections are held in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
Maqboul said senior Fatah official Azzam al-Ahmad will arrive in the Gaza Strip late Saturday or Sunday "to put the final touches on the formation of the unity government".
He said President Mahmoud Abbas has showed that he is unwilling to chair the government".
"He sees that it would be difficult for him to take the job of both the prime minister and Palestinian Authority president," he said.
By Mustafa Haboosh
englishnews@aa.com.tr
www.aa.com.tr/en
