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Outgoing Hamas PM welcomes unity gov't

03 June 2014 01:05 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. The outgoing prime minister of Islamic Hamas movement Ismail Haniya in the Gaza Strip welcomed on Monday the new unity government which was sworn in earlier in the day in Ramallah city, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

"We will work hard to ensure success for the unity government," Haniya told reporters, adding that "Reconciliation does not mean ending the split, but it means partnership and building a Palestinian leadership for all the Palestinians."

Haniya stressed that the unity government is transitional, which would mainly focus on preparing for presidential and legislative elections supposed to be held in six months.

Earlier on Monday, the Palestinian national unity government has been sworn in before the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

As many as 13 ministers, led by Rami al-Hamdallah, have taken the oath before President Abbas at his office in Ramallah, while four Gaza-based ministers could not attend the official swearing- in ceremony after they were denied access into the West Bank by Israel.

This is the 17th cabinet since the creation of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) in 1994.

The new consensus government has ended seven years of political division that started when Hamas took over Gaza in June 2007 after routing forces loyal to Abbas who now rules the West Bank.