Palestinian heads fail to agree on gov't

[oberliner]

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - A daylong gunbattle between rival Palestinian factions raged in the streets of Gaza City Monday as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh again failed to agree on the formation of a unity government.

Government spokesman Ghazi Hamad said there would be another meeting tomorrow, where the two men planned to discuss the crucial issue of who would be interior minister, controlling security forces.

The two leaders are negotiating the basis of an accord hammered out last month in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, laying out the framework of a government bringing Abbas' Fatah into partnership with Haniyeh's Hamas.

Abbas hopes that bringing his more moderate Fatah back into the government would placate the West, which cut off aid to the Palestinian regime when Hamas took over a year ago after winning an election. However, the West insists that any Palestinian government must recognize Israel, renounce violence and accept previous peace accords. Hamas rejects the conditions, and the Mecca accord falls short of meeting them.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070305/ap_on_re_mi_ea/palestinians_politics;_ylt=AhnRkyrmQYVI1WVa_ZNxtOpvaA8F