Hamas: Palestinians to skip interim government (AP)

RAMALLAH, West Bank ? The Palestinians' rival leaders have quietly decided to keep their respective governments in the West Bank and Gaza in place until elections, a senior Hamas figure told The Associated Press. This proposal would remove a major obstacle to efforts to reconcile the factions: the need to form an interim unity government.

A representative of Hamas' rival, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, denied that such a deal was struck. Abbas envoy Azzam al-Ahmed insisted there was no agreement and "no possibility of holding elections without a unity government."

The Hamas figure said the understanding was reached between Western-backed Abbas and Khaled Mashaal, chief of the Islamic militant Hamas, during one-on-one talks last week. He spoke on condition of anonymity, because he said the two leaders decided not to make the arrangement public.

Another top Hamas official, Moussa Abu Marzouk, said that it was at least possible to skip an interim government and head straight to elections, tentatively scheduled for May.

The Hamas statements suggested that a solution was being finessed to get around the disagreement over keeping Salam Fayyad, prime minister of the West Bank government, who is popular with Western donors but strongly opposed by Hamas. By retaining the separate governments until the elections and perhaps enabling them to work closer together, both sides could save face.

Keeping the existing governments in place would help Abbas avoid a Western backlash and continue the flow of international aid to his government in the run-up to elections. Western powers fear a unity government, even one composed of technocrats without clear political affiliations, would be heavily influenced by the Islamic militant Hamas.

It also would mean that Salam Fayyad, an internationally respected economist, remains in charge in the West Bank for the time being and continue to ensure that donor countries keep funding Abbas' Palestinian Authority. Hamas will keep running Gaza, the territory it seized from Abbas by force in 2007. The Hamas government is not internationally recognized.

Shelving the unity government step would also remove a major sticking point in Hamas-Abbas negotiations.

At Thursday's meeting, Abbas told Mashaal that that the two-government status quo was "convenient for both sides and any change might be costly," according to the Hamas figure. The Hamas figure said he was briefed by Mashaal, who welcomed the idea.

Al-Ahmed, the Abbas envoy, said negotiators from both sides would meet again next month to try to form a unity government. Abu Marzouk confirmed that such talks are planned.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111127/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_palestinians_reconciliation

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Congo: 2 killed in clashes days ahead of poll

A sea of electoral posters line the streets of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, Friday Nov. 25, 2011. On Monday Nov. 28 2011, Congolese will elect their president and national assembly. between 11 contenders for president and 18,835 for the 500 parliamentary seats. The election commission has set itself a Friday deadline to deliver 186,000 ballot boxes and more than 64 million ballot papers to nearly 64,000 polling stations, in a country of 2,345,000 square kilometres (906,000 square miles) -- 77 times the size of former colonial ruler Belgium. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)

A sea of electoral posters line the streets of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, Friday Nov. 25, 2011. On Monday Nov. 28 2011, Congolese will elect their president and national assembly. between 11 contenders for president and 18,835 for the 500 parliamentary seats. The election commission has set itself a Friday deadline to deliver 186,000 ballot boxes and more than 64 million ballot papers to nearly 64,000 polling stations, in a country of 2,345,000 square kilometres (906,000 square miles) -- 77 times the size of former colonial ruler Belgium. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)

KINSHASA, Congo (AP) ? Two people were killed Saturday in pre-vote clashes in Congo's capital and police fired bullets and tear gas into a crowd that included tens of thousands of opposition supporters, an AP photographer said. The violence prompted officials to ban further rallies before Monday's poll.

The photographer saw at least two dead bodies after violence erupted between political supporters and after police shot into the crowd at the airport in Kinshasa. Police also later fired tear gas and appeared to prevent opposition presidential candidate Etienne Tshisekedi from leaving the scene.

Saturday's violence prompted the governor to call off political rallies ahead of Monday's vote. Governor Andre Kimbuta made the announcement on state television Saturday, even as the plane carrying opposition leader Tshisekedi arrived at Kinshasa's airport. Tens of thousands of people had amassed at the airport to welcome Tshisekedi's convoy.

"Because of the escalating violence seen in Kinshasa, all public demonstrations and other political meetings are canceled this Saturday," Kimbuta said. "This is for a better result of the electoral process. The urban authority calls on the population's patriotism."

It was not immediately possible to determine the total number of casualties from Saturday's clashes. Tension is running high, partly because many polling stations have not yet received the necessary voting materials.

At least 33 of the 80 planes carrying voting materials to the provinces were unable to take off on Friday due to bad weather.

Human rights groups expressed fears about an atmosphere of spiraling violence and hate speech ahead of the vote in the vast mineral-rich nation. The outcome of the vote is almost certain to keep President Joseph Kabila in power.

Earlier this month in Kinshasa, gunmen fired on Tshisekedi campaigners putting up posters, wounding two. In the southern mining city of Lubumbashi, another 16 were injured in violence pitting Tshisekedi's supporters against a rival opposition party. Young people in the eastern city of Goma took to the streets after popular folk musician Fabrice Mumpfiritsa was kidnapped after he refused to sing songs supporting Kabila. He was found three days later, legs and eyes bound and so badly beaten he had to be hospitalized.

Voters will be choosing between 11 presidential candidates and more than 18,000 candidates for the 500-seat parliament. It's country's first election since the landmark 2006 vote which was considered the country's first democratic vote in 40 years, but was marred by weeks of street battles led by supporters of the losing candidate.

How the elections unfold will be a likely indicator of whether Congo is consolidating its fledgling democracy or returning to a state of widespread instability after decades of dictatorship and civil war, according to the International Crisis Group.

Western nations have spent billions of dollars trying to stabilize Congo, where China also has massively invested in recent years.

___

Associated Press writers Rukmini Callimachi in Dakar, Senegal and Saleh Mwanamilongo in Kinshasa, Congo contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2011-11-26-AF-Congo-Election/id-7c4707517df443db94e71ed7406e767d

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