Palestinian President appoints new PM amid Hamas angerJune 3, 2013 - 09:47 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas named British-educated political independent Rami Hamdallah as new prime minister on Sunday, June 2 a move that was immediately condemned by Gaza Strip rulers Hamas, Reuters reported. Abbas and the militant Islamist group agreed in principle last month to form a unity government for the divided Palestinian territories, and a Hamas spokesman said Hamdallah's appointment threw that into doubt. Fawzi Barhoum told Reuters "Abbas should have implemented the reconciliation (deal)" achieved in Cairo last month, rather than name his own independent candidate as prime minister. The group called Hamdallah's appointment "illegal." But official Palestinian news agency, WAFA, said that in naming Hamdallah, Abbas, who has sought to end abuse of the Islamist group's activists by security forces in the West Bank, had "stressed his commitment to reconciliation" with Hamas. A little known figure outside the Palestinian territories, Hamdallah is a professor of linguistics who has been president of An Najah National University in the West Bank's largest city since 1998. He will replace Western-favored economist Salam Fayyad who quit in April and formally leaves office this month. Led by the secular Fatah party, Abbas' Western-backed Palestinian Authority has pursued surveillance, firings, arrests and torture to bar its Islamist rivals from public life in the West Bank, since Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip enclave in 2007. Top stories Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev arrived in Moscow on April 22 to hold talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". Partner news | Concept to complete Yerevan Cascade discussed at city hall A conceptual proposal to complete the Cascade complex in downtown Yerevan has been presented by Jean-Michel Wilmotte. Pashinyan visits flood-hit region Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Saturday, June 8 visited the disaster area in the Lori province. €3.5 mln EU grant to support justice reforms in Armenia The European Union has paid €3.5 mln grant to Armenia within a €11mln program on Support to Justice Reforms. Yerevan reacts to Baku’s proposal to see Minsk Group abolition Alen Simonyan has declared that Armenia is taking steps aimed at concluding a peace treaty with Azerbaijan. |