MIDDLE EAST:Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas has told Jordan that talks on a unity government with Hamas have hit a "dead end" and he will pursue other options, a senior Palestinian official said yesterday.
The "other options" could include the dismissal of the Hamas-led government and the appointment of a new prime minister, moves that would signify a new hard line against Hamas that could shake up the Palestinian political process.
Mr Abbas' statement comes a day after Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert made an appeal for peace with the Palestinians and two days before he is to meet US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice, suggesting that it is part of a bout of fresh diplomacy.
If Mr Abbas were to dismiss the Hamas-led government and form a new one, it could open the way for western financial sanctions, imposed after Hamas came to power in March, to be lifted, removing a heavy burden restraining the Palestinian economy.
At the same time, any move to dismiss Hamas from power, or to call a referendum on whether a new government should be formed, is likely to incite anger among supporters of the Islamist group and may deepen internal violence.
Following the reports of Mr Abbas' statement, Hamas acknowledged that talks on a unity government, which have been off-and-on for months, were at a severe impasse, but said it still hoped that a way forward could be found.
The senior Palestinian official said Mr Abbas had told Jordanian officials during talks in Amman that: "Talks with Hamas over a unity government have come to a dead end.
"This is not an option he will pursue. He is now thinking of other options," the official said of Mr Abbas.
Mr Abbas has been trying to get Hamas to meet western demands to recognise Israel and renounce violence.
Hamas, which is formally committed to Israel's destruction, has resisted the calls.
Mr Abbas is to meet Dr Rice in the West Bank town of Jericho tomorrow amid growing US pressure on Israel and the Palestinians to show progress on ending decades of conflict.
President George Bush and Dr Rice are due in neighbouring Jordan today for talks with Iraqi and other regional leaders and are widely expected to address the Israeli-Palestinian crisis.
Mr Abbas earlier welcomed Mr Olmert's major policy speech on Monday, which expressed willingness to return to peace talks under the US-backed "road map" and to free Palestinian prisoners in exchange for an Israeli soldier held in Gaza.
Mr Olmert also said peace talks could not be held before a Palestinian government was set up to replace the one now headed by Hamas.
He has said he would like to meet Mr Abbas for talks as soon as possible, but no date has been fixed.
In a sign of the growing uncertainty about the Hamas-led government's future, Palestinian prime minister Ismail Haniyeh, a senior Hamas figure, left the Gaza Strip yesterday for a trip in the region that advisers said could last for more than a month.
He is expected to join other senior Hamas figures who have gone abroad to try to raise funds to keep their government functioning in the absence of the direct aid flows that have been stopped by the western embargo.
After nearly five months of daily clashes in Gaza, Israel and the Palestinians agreed a truce on Sunday that saw Israeli troops withdraw from the narrow coastal territory in exchange for Palestinian militants ceasing to fire rockets into Israel.
Since the ceasefire was implemented, Palestinians have fired at least a dozen rockets at Israel, injuring civilians in the Israeli town of Sderot. Israeli troops have kept out of Gaza.