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U.S. Plays Down Hopes for New Palestinian Government

[Reuters] U.S. officials played down the chances of a major shift in U.S. policy if the ruling Hamas group holds a large number of cabinet seats in a new Palestinian unity government, Western diplomats said on Wednesday. At a meeting in Cairo of the Quartet of Middle East mediators, the U.S. delegation (headed by Assistant Secretary of State David Welch) said it was concerned Hamas would continue to play a leading role in a new government and would prevent it from meeting the Quartet's demands that it recognize Israel, renounce violence, and abide by interim peace deals. "If a large portion of the cabinet is Hamas, the U.S. will find it hard to deal with the new government (because) that government would not be substantially different from what we have now," a Western diplomat said. But two Western diplomats said Washington was unlikely to block the Europeans and UN from engaging with the new government.
2006-11-16 01:00:00
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