Fatah official: Fayyad is still the president's choice

Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad is still President Mahmoud Abbas' choice to lead a caretaker government, a senior Fatah official said Wednesday. Faysal Abu Shahla told Ma'an a decision would be taken over who to appoint as head of the new government after Abbas' meeting with Hamas leader Khalid Mashaal in Cairo later this month. Abbas, who heads the Fatah party, will explain to Mashaal why he seeks to appoint Fayyad to the role, Abu Shahla told Ma'an. Fayyad was appointed prime minister of the Palestinian Authority by Abbas in 2007 but Hamas has never recognized him. Earlier this year, Hamas rejected Fatah's nomination of Fayyad to lead an interim government to prepare for elections. Both parties agreed to form a caretaker government as part of a reconciliation deal signed in May to end years of bitter hostility between Fatah, which leads the PA in the West Bank, and Hamas, which governs Gaza. Fayyad on Monday said he refused "to be used as a pretext for continuing the split" and called on all parties to agree on a new prime minister, in an interview with the Al-Quds newspaper. Abbas and Mashaal will discuss the unity deal, the new government and elections when they meet in Cairo, Abu Shahla said. The Palestinian Liberation Organization --the umbrella group dominated by Abbas' Fatah party and of which Hamas is not a member -- will also be on the agenda, he added. Abu Shahla said preparations for the meeting were complete, noting that that there was no room for failure. A senior official told AFP on Tuesday that the meeting would take place on Nov. 27