A new Palestinian government is expected to be sworn in Tuesday in the West Bank, Palestinian sources said.
The government will be headed by Western-backed Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and will represent factions integrated under the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), including Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party, the sources said.
The government excludes the Islamic Hamas movement, Fatah's bitter rival, which won the parliamentary elections in 2006. Hamas, which now holds sway in the Gaza Strip, said it does not recognize the new government since it will not be put for confidence voting before the parliament.
According to the Ramallah-based al-Ayyam daily, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and the People's Party were the only two PLO factions that apologized from joining the new government.
At least seven new ministers will be from Fatah, according to the newspaper.
The new government is an expansion of Fayyad's caretaker government which Abbas formed in June 2007 after his forces lost control of the Gaza Strip following deadly battles with Hamas.
Fatah was not satisfied with Fayyad's provisional government since the secular movement was not notably represented in the government.
Abbas said he asked Fayyad to reshuffle his government earlier this month after Fatah and Hamas failed to reach an agreement on a unified government ruling the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
But the new government will quit as soon as Hamas and Fatah achieve a power-sharing pact during the Egyptian-brokered talks that will resume next month in Cairo.
(Xinhua News Agency May 19, 2009)
