GAZA - Rival Palestinian factions were close to agreeing on Monday on a new prime minister to replace Ismail Haniyeh, but the candidate required the endorsement of President Mahmoud Abbas to be made final, officials said.
Negotiators from the Islamist group Hamas and its more moderate rival Fatahsaid separately they were near agreement that Mohammad Shbair, the former head of the Islamic University in Gaza, should replace Haniyeh.
Shbair was the front-runner for the nomination, but his candidacy has to be endorsed by Abbas, who heads Fatah, and it was not clear that Hamas was ready to see Shbair named until all the other members of the new cabinet were determined.
"We can say that Fatah did not give any objections. Mohammad Shbair is a candidate by Hamas, and Fatah has no objection. Therefore, he has a big chance," said Rudwan al-Akhras, a spokesman for Fatah's parliamentary bloc.
He added, however, that Abbas, who was due to travel to Jordan for a two-day visit starting on Monday, was required to formally announce the name.
Even though Hamas has proposed Shbair, an Islamist who is described as close to but not a member of Hamas, it was not willing to say he was the definitive candidate.
"It is not yet suitable to announce the name of the prime minister," Fawzi Barhoum, a Hamas spokesman, told Reuters.
"The announcement is pending on some issues under discussion, among these issues the name of the next prime minister," he said. "When all these issues are finalised, and we hope that would happen very soon, we will be able to declare the government, the prime minister and the agenda to the people."
Palestinians hope a new prime minister and a unity government will ease Western sanctions.
