Fatah wants Salam Fayyad for Palestinian PM

Fatah's central committee has selected current prime minister Salam Fayyad as its candidate to head an interim government of independents, a Fatah official said on Sunday. "During a meeting last night at the presidential headquarters, we decided to nominate Salam Fayyad to head the Palestinian government," a member of the central committee told AFP on condition of anonymity. The decision comes ahead of a Tuesday meeting in Cairo between officials from Fatah and longtime rival Hamas, as the two groups try to agree the make-up of a transitional government mandated by a unity deal they inked last month. The surprise agreement, intended to end years of bitter feuding, calls for a government of independents to lay the groundwork for presidential and legislative elections within a year. On Saturday night, after the central committee meeting, Fatah representative Azzam al-Ahmed, who helped broker the unity deal, said the next round of talks should yield a final government line-up. The central committee "decided to continue communications with Hamas and the other factions in order to form the Palestinian government as soon as possible." "The two sides will meet this Tuesday to form a government, and we hope that this will be the last round (of talks) needed to finish the make-up of the government," he told AFP. Fatah and Hamas have each been drawing up shortlists of their candidates for the prime minister post, but Fayyad's future in the office he currently holds remains uncertain as some in Hamas oppose his staying on. Hamas has not yet announced its candidates for the position, but officials from the movement have said they expect the next prime minister to come from Gaza, which would rule out Fayyad. But the Palestinian leadership is also facing international pressure to keep Fayyad on, in a bid to maintain the flow of donor money to the ailing Palestinian government. The international community has roundly praised Fayyad, a former World Bank official, for his efforts to build Palestinian institutions and prepare for statehood, even in the absence of peace talks with Israel.