Hamas, Fatah agree on Hamdallah as Palestine PM

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah Party and the Hamas movement have agreed on Rami Hamdallah as the prime minister of the transitional unity government, a Hamas official said.

"We officially agreed that Rami Hamdallah will be the premier of the unity government... We also agreed on a number of ministers and we will continue our discussion on the others on Tuesday," Xinhua quoted Hamas spokesman in Gaza Sami Abu Zuhri as saying after a meeting late Monday night.

The spokesman added that "the two sides will hold a final meeting to agree on the final form of the new government".

But an official close to the dialogue between the two sides said they were still unable to agree on who should be the interior minister to be in charge of security in both Gaza and the West Bank.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Xinhua that chief of the Fatah delegation Azzam el-Ahmad suggested that Hamdallah should take the position concurrently.

"Hamas officials told el-Ahmad that they need to study the suggestion and will give an answer during the final session Tuesday," the official said.