[Reuters] Douglas Hamilton and Mohammed Assadi - Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, an independent technocrat favored by the West, may face pressure to cede his post to a figure from Fatah in the wake of its congress in Bethlehem, political sources said on Wednesday. Many in Fatah have been irked by Fayyad, a former International Monetary Fund official, and complain that budget cuts have hit the party and its loyalists. Fayyad, 57, is rejected outright as a Western puppet by Hamas which runs Gaza. Fayyad said on June 29 that it was time for Palestinian leaders to get on with building the independent state they seek, instead of waiting for a peace agreement with Israel.
2009-08-14 06:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive