Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh on Thursday accused the United States of undermining efforts to form a new coalition government and urged Europe to take the lead in lifting international sanctions against the Palestinians.
Haniyeh spoke a day after U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the new Palestinian government would have to accept international demands to renounce violence and recognize Israel. "The U.S. administration does not want the Palestinians to be unified. It puts obstacles in the way of this political coming together," Haniyeh told reporters. "It wants to extort the Palestinian people and the Palestinian government."
Haniyeh urged Europe to break with the United States. "We expect from the international community, and especially the European Union, to be more balanced and fairer in dealing with the Palestinians," he said.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni responded cautiously Wednesday to Palestinian efforts to establish new government. "We will see what the outcome is here," Rice said. Abbas, she said, "is someone with whom we can work and with whom we are working."
