Hamas official: I would support Fayyad as transitional PM

Journalist Ashley Bates has been revisiting Gaza last week (she used to run the Dispatches from Gaza blog, praised by NYT’s Nick Kristof as “a model for filling gaps in news coverage.”) On this visit, Bates interviewed Dr Ahmad Yousef, who recently retired as close advisor to Ismail Hanniyeh and deputy foreign minister for the Hamas government in Gaza (she interviewed him earlier this year, for Mother Jones). He now serves as the head of the Hamas-affiliated think-tank Beit al-Hikma.

Despite the possibility of Salam Fayyad staying on as prime minister in the transitional Hamas-Fatah government being described as one of the major pitfalls awaiting the unity agreement, Youssef spends much of the time praising Fayyad as “humble,” “open minded”, someone he would feel comfortable discussing issues with, and ends up endorsing him as the best candidate to head the transitional cabinet.

[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/25666589[/vimeo]

Yesterday Fatah announced (in an unhelpfully matter-of-fact tone) that Fayyad is its only candidate to head the caretaker government, and if Hamas fails to agree, the current (appointed) caretaker government will remain in place. Let’s hope Yousef’s comment indicate Hamas will be able to overcome Fatah’s manners and move on with the unity project.