Hamas rejects Fayyad nomination for prime minister

The Hamas-Fatah reconciliation appeared to be in jeopardy after Hamas rejected Fatah’s nominee for prime minister, Salam Fayyad.

Hamas on Sunday rejected Fayyad, the Palestinian Authority’s current prime minister, to lead the transitional Palestinian government until elections scheduled for next year a day after he was nominated by Fatah.

Members of the new government are set to be appointed this week during meetings in Cairo between Fatah and Hamas officials, where Fayyad could still be given the position.

Keeping Fayyad, who is respected by the West, as prime minister could put donor nations’ minds at ease.

PA President Mahmoud Abbas, who leads the Fatah party, and Hamas, which runs the Gaza Strip, signed a reconciliation agreement in May brokered by Egypt.