 | My hope is that this is part of a fiendish, diabolical plan to drive the Paleos to rock bottom. |
RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) - Mahmoud Abbas got a major boost in his increasingly bellicose showdown with Hamas on Saturday, with a U.S. diplomat saying he expects a crippling embargo to be lifted once the Palestinian president appoints a government without the Islamic militants.
But the money is unlikely to reach Gaza, now controlled by Hamas and cut off from the world.
The new Cabinet is to be sworn in Sunday in the West Bank, where Fatah forces stormed government offices on Saturday, just three days after Hamas seized control of Gaza and Abbas dismantled the Hamas-Fatah coalition government in response.
Abbas issued a decree just after midnight Sunday annulling a law requiring the new government to be approved by parliament, which is dominated by Hamas. Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said the decree was illegal. ``This escalates the crisis, and the president bears the responsibility for all the consequences of these developments,'' he said.
| You guys have just been pouring gasoline on the fire, that's all. |
In another boost for Abbas, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said the new Palestinian government would create a ``new opportunity'' for the peace process. Olmert has long welcomed Abbas as a negotiating partner, but said Abbas' alliance with Hamas made peacemaking virtually impossible. ``We have a new opportunity ... that we haven't had in a long time,'' Olmert told reporters on board his plane shortly before taking off for a meeting at the White House. ``The situation has changed, which enables diplomatic progress ... We intend to act to take advantage of this situation,'' he said. ``A government that is not Hamas is a partner.''
| That should sucker the Paleos for a while. |
|