June 15 (Bloomberg) -- President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah named independent lawmaker Salam Fayyad prime minister of an emergency government as Hamas's Ismael Hania refused to give up the post, pushing the Palestinian Authority closer to a breakup.
``Fayyad has obtained collective approval from the Palestinian leadership and the Palestinian Liberation Organization,'' Nabil Amr, Abbas's media adviser, said on al- Arabiya television. Nabil Abu Rudaina, spokesman for the president, told reporters in Ramallah that talks to select the ministers for the emergency government were under way.
In the Gaza Strip, where Hamas forces yesterday overran the last centers of Fatah power, Hania said in a speech broadcast on al-Jazeera television that he will continue to serve as the head of government and termed Abbas's moves to assemble a new cabinet a violation of the Palestinian constitution.
The Islamic Hamas's takeover of Gaza while the secular Fatah retains control of the West Bank appeared to spell the end of Palestinian unity. It also creates a dilemma for Israel and powers such as the U.S. that have been involved in the Middle East peace process while efforts to resume aid to the Palestinians are stalled.
While Fatah favors talks, the Islamic Hamas is sworn to Israel's destruction and is designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. and the EU. The Western powers imposed a ban on aid to the authority after Hamas formed a government early last year, following its victory in legislative elections.
There were no gun battles in Gaza today, for the first time in more than a week, after Hamas fighters consolidated control of the enclave. They occupied Abbas's Gaza City compound and arrested Palestinian Authority security officials loyal to Fatah, Hamas's al-Aqsa Radio reported.
Looted Installations
People were seen looting Fatah installations, and the green banner of the Hamas movement was flying over Abbas's home. Hamas supporters rallied in front of the Palestinian Legislative Council building, distributing sweets and firing gunshots into the air in celebration.
In central Gaza, an unknown gunman fired at people participating in another rally, killing one, an official for the Hamas security services, speaking on condition of anonymity, said in a telephone interview.
``The Hamas side have taken control of all the security compounds over the last few days and last night they took control of the Presidential Guard compound, and that has marked an end to the fighting,'' John Ging, director of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, which runs Palestinian refugee camps, told the British Broadcasting Corp. from Gaza.
Rafah Crossing
Hamas agreed to allow 150 members of the Fatah-aligned Presidential Guard to continue to operate the Palestinian post at the Rafah crossing between southern Gaza and Egypt, so that Egypt wouldn't close the border there, al-Aqsa Radio said.
Hania declared an amnesty for other Fatah officials who have been arrested, and Abu Obaida, a spokesman for the movement, told reporters that 10 had been freed.
Hamas spokesmen, meanwhile, tried to reassure secular Palestinians. ``We are not going to be like the Taliban,'' Fawzi Barhoom said told reporters late yesterday. ``We will spread Islam in a very civilized way to make this home safe.''
Israel said that for now it wasn't taking any action. ``No one has any interest in seeing a humanitarian crisis develop in Gaza,'' Miri Eisin, a spokeswoman for Prime Minster Ehud Olmert, said by telephone. ``The water is still flowing, and we're monitoring the situation.''
The U.S. and EU both backed Abbas's steps today and condemned Hamas.
U.S. Support
``The United States supports President Abbas and those who want to find a peaceful solution that leads to a Palestinian state that will take care of its people,'' said Gordon Johndroe, spokesman for the National Security Council. ``Hamas has demonstrated all they have to offer is violence, when negotiation is the right course of action.''
The European Union, which yesterday suspended humanitarian aid to Gaza for the first time ever, condemned Hamas's seizure of the area and backed Abbas's measures, according to an e-mailed statement from the German presidency. Germany holds the current six-month rotating presidency of the EU.
The EU ``condemns the killing of innocent civilians and members of the legal security forces,'' the EU said today. ``The EU Presidency emphatically supports President Abbas' decision, in keeping with the Palestinian Basic Law, to dismiss the government and to appoint a caretaker.''
U.K. Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett told BBC Radio 4 it would be wrong for the international community to reward what was effectively a ``coup d'etat'' by Hamas.
Junior Partner
While Fatah agreed in February 2006 to become a junior partner in a government led by Hamas's Hania, the two movements didn't settle their differences over Israel or stop the fighting between their loyalists.
Fatah, which is a secular and nationalist movement, retained control of Preventive Security and other police agencies while the Hamas-led Interior Ministry formed its own security force in Gaza to buttress its militia.
Abbas announced in a decree late yesterday that he had dissolved the Hamas-Fatah coalition and dismissed Hamas's Hania as prime minister. A ``national salvation'' government will serve until elections are held, according to a decree from Abbas read by Tayeb Abdel Rahim, an official in his office.
Fayyad, who was born in 1952, is a former World Bank and International Monetary Fund official who was brought in as finance minister in 2002 when Yasser Arafat ruled the Palestinian Authority to clean up corruption and waste. He isn't a member of Fatah and ran as an independent in the 2006 legislative elections.
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