Palestinian leaders vow to push ahead with Mecca talks until deal reached

(AP) Rival Palestinian factions drew close to an agreement Thursday over the outlines of a power-sharing government in which the militant Hamas group would promise to "respect" peace deals signed with Israel, officials said.

But the deal raises the question of whether any government that emerges from the Mecca conference will be accepted by the United States and Israel. They have demanded that Hamas explicitly recognize Israel and renounce violence, which the militant group has so far refused to do.

Unless they feel Hamas has sufficiently moderated its stance, the United States is unlikely to lift a crippling international financial boycott of the Palestinian government _ and Israel will not open peace talks with a new Palestinian government.

Delegates from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' mainstream Fatah movement and Hamas negotiated until 3 a.m Thursday, then resumed talks midmorning in closed-door meetings that lasted throughout the day, trying to reach a deal. An agreement is vital to averting a civil war between the factions: Many Palestinians fear that without a strong enough agreement in Mecca, fighting that has killed dozens in past months could grow even stronger.

A Hamas delegate said the political outlines of an agreement for a coalition government between Fatah and Hamas would be announced later Thursday.

"Now we are forming the principles of the agreement. Tonight we are going to announce an agreement in principle on forming a national unity government," the delegate told the Associated Press.

He said the outlines of the new government's political platform would be announced, including a provision by which the factions _ including Hamas _ would "respect" previous peace deals between the Palestinians and Israel. The delegate spoke on condition of anonymity because he was giving the information before the formal announcement.

They will also be based on a document drawn up last summer by Hamas and Fatah activists jailed in Israeli prisons. That document calls for a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, the areas Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast War.

If Hamas joins a government that adopts that document, it would be the militant group's most concrete commitment ever to a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict _ though Hamas has said that would not necessarily mean recognizing Israel.

The vague provision for Hamas to "respect" past deals may fall short of the explicit terms demanded by the United States and Israel.

Moreover, it appeared Hamas and Fatah still have been unable to agree on who would take up the vital post of interior minister in the coalition government. The interior minister would control security forces _ which each faction has been loathe to see fall into the other's hands.

Maher Mekdad, a member of the Fatah delegation, said the two sides had reached an agreement on the division of Cabinet posts. The interior minister would be an independent: Hamas would propose a list of candidates and President Mahmoud Abbas, head of Fatah, would approve one of them, Mekdad told the Associated Press.

That result may fall short of the solid, comprehensive deal Saudi Arabia had hoped for when it called the summit, held in a palace in Mecca overlooking Islam's holiest site _ the Kaaba, the cube-shaped shrine that all Muslims face when they pray.

The summit is a last-ditch attempt to resolve the turmoil that has shaken the Palestinians _ and the peace process with Israel _ since Hamas won January 2006 elections and formed a government. The U.S. and the West slapped the boycott on funding to Hamas' government and Israel refused any negotiations with it, though it has held talks with Abbas.

Meanwhile, the power struggle between Hamas and Fatah has grown bloodier, and many fear that without a deal in Mecca, the factional fighting could turn to outright civil war.

Saudi Arabia, a powerful U.S. ally, may have to play a role in selling any agreement to the West. So far, Washington has publicly backed Israel's stance _ reiterated by Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipo Livni on Wednesday _ that a Palestinian government must explicitly renounce violence and accept the right of Israel to exist.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Abbas and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice are due to meet on Feb. 19 in Jerusalem for talks intended to revive the peace process.

Abbas had asked Saudi Foreign Minister Saud Al-Faisal to sound out the Americans on whether "respect the accords" is acceptable, a Fatah delegate said.

Abbas is ready "to give Hamas a blank check" on the wording so long as the Americans will buy it, a Fatah delegate said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

Hamas spokesman Ghazi Hamad bristled at the pressure on the militant group to recognize Israel, saying doing so would not necessarily lead to the Palestinians' ultimate goal of a state with Jerusalem as its capital.

"Recognizing Israel is not like the staff of Moses (a magic wand) by which we can solve all the crises," he said. "We want to ease the Palestinian people suffering (from the boycott), but that is not going to be done with any price ... The international community cannot force the Palestinian people to follow all its conditions."

In Gaza, people waited anxiously for the talks to produce results. Gunmen added sandbags and other reinforcements to their positions on streets and rooftops in Gaza City. More than 30 people were killed and over 200 wounded in four days of fighting that ended with a truce, called for the Mecca talks, on Sunday.

The imprisoned Fatah militant leader Marwan Barghouti sent an e-mail from an Israeli jail that warned: "If the dialogue currently taking place in Mecca fails, history will have no mercy on those who took part, and they will not soon be forgiven by the Palestinian people."