[International Herald Tribune] Steven Erlanger - Mahmoud Abbas announced agreement with the radical Islamic group Hamas on the political platform for a national unity government more than two weeks ago, as a way to try to induce the West to resume financial aid to employees of the Palestinian Authority. The idea was endorsed on Sept. 15 by the European Union at a meeting of foreign ministers. But Hamas repudiated the political program even before it was published. In fact, the idea began falling apart as soon as Abbas announced it. A national unity government is a clever idea, but the whole exercise has an element of prestidigitation about it - a magician wooing an audience desperately hoping to suspend disbelief.
2006-09-29 01:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive