Mahmoud Abbas
PER
Abbas Mahmoud Abbas
According to a Western diplomat, Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, who also leads Fatah, as the "real" Palestinian power, had spoken about appointing a new, Hamas-supported prime minister to form a government in the next two weeks but suddenly he is talking about not putting a new Hamas-backed government into office for two or three months, until after the Israeli elections of March 28, senior Western and Israeli diplomats said. If Mr. Abbas works with a technocratic prime minister, with Hamas approving policy from behind a screen, that would be a long way from the "transformation" of Hamas, and it would not be very satisfactory for Israel. Judging from the outcome of the quartet's meeting in London, the idea is to try to postpone the day of a Hamas government as long as possible and support Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president who also leads Fatah, as the ''real'' Palestinian power, at least in the meantime. But suddenly Mr. Abbas is talking about not putting a new Hamas-backed government into the office for two or three months, until after the Israeli elections of March 28, senior Western and Israeli diplomats said. If Mr. Abbas works with a technocratic prime minister, with Hamas approving policy from behind a screen, that would be a long way from the ''transformation'' of Hamas, and it would not be very satisfactory for Israel.