Dahlan, The Deputy Prime Minister!

ANALYSIS: Unity deal is minimum required to remove the siege

Contributed by Lucia

"....There is no commitment in the letter to keep past agreements and no direct recognition of Israel. But its wording is sufficient, at least for Saudi King Abdullah, to lift the siege from the Palestinian Authority. Because it holds the essential turning point in Hamas' position: the acceptance in theory of the agreements and resolutions, including the Oslo Accords and the Arab League resolutions, such as those adopted by the Arab summit conference in Beirut in 2002, dealing with terms of normalization with Israel.....

All the parties, including Saudi Arabia and Egypt, seem to understand that in view of the political situation in Israel and Washington's lack of interest in advancing the political process, it is better to make do with managing the internal Palestinian crisis.

Another question is whether the national unity government would be able to function. The portfolio allocation was agreed on before the Mecca gathering, following the monetary temptation the king had offered the Palestinians if they set up a unity government.

Arab sources say the new government will get half a billion dollars now for "routine maintenance" and additional large sums for rehabilitation and development later.

It is not clear, however, whether it will be possible to merge the armed Hamas and Fatah forces into one.

While the agreement is still subject to the approval of various clauses, for example Mohammed Dahlan's authorities as deputy prime minister, Saudi Arabia has good cause for satisfaction. The agreement will not only enable it to lift the economic siege and funnel money to the PA, but mainly to block Iranian involvement in the Palestinian problem and keep it in "Arab hands.""

***

So Dahlan will be the deputy prime minister! This calls for a celebration; may be even burning another university!

Long Live "National Unity!"