Abbas may head Palestinian transitional gov't

Palestinian rivals have preliminarily accepted a Qatari proposal that President Mahmoud Abbas head an upcoming transitional government to end a chronic split, an official from Abbas's Fatah party said late Sunday. The development occurred in the second meeting that Abbas and Hamas' chief Khaled Mashaal held in Doha Sunday. The Fatah official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the Qatari suggestion was "positively received" by the delegations of the two Palestinian parties. However, this acceptance "cannot be considered official and that it needs more talks and consultations," the official told Xinhua. Qatar is apparently continuing the effort that Egypt has advanced when Hamas and Fatah signed a reconciliation agreement in Cairo in May 2011. Under the Egyptian-brokered pact, the two movements agreed to form a transitional government of technocrats, but they failed to form it for differences on the identity of the prime minister. The technocratic government was expected to rule the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip and the Fatah-ruled West Bank until general elections are held in May 2012. The receiving of the Qatari proposal sounded a compromise to get past the dispute over the upcoming prime minister. Because Abbas is acceptable to the international community, Palestinians expect that the new government will not face international isolation, unlike what would happen if Hamas chairs it. The broader agreement that Egypt brokered aimed at ending the Palestinian political split, started when Hamas routed pro-Abbas forces and took over Gaza in 2007.