Ex-university leader named prime minister

Hamas is trying to get the various factions to form a coalition Cabinet.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) -- Hamas presented a pragmatic former university administrator as its choice for Palestinian prime minister Monday, and the Islamic militant group reached out to Fatah and other factions to join a broad-based Cabinet that might stand a chance of gaining international approval.
Officials said Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas would give Ismail Haniyeh his formal letter of appointment today, a step toward installing the first government to be headed by Hamas, which swept parliamentary elections last month.
Haniyeh, 43, told reporters after meeting with Abbas that he would try to form a joint government with Fatah, the traditional Palestinian ruling party that Hamas trounced in the election, "that can shoulder its responsibilities in the political area and internal issues." So far, Fatah has refused to join.
He also criticized Israel's decision over the weekend to freeze the transfer of tax funds to the Palestinian Authority after Hamas took control of the parliament.
"The Israelis are trying to starve innocent people by taking money from our taxes, and we're going to fight this by all legal means," he said. "This punishment will not break the determination of the Palestinian people."
Here's the goal
Hamas, which calls for the destruction of Israel and is responsible for dozens of suicide bombings, is trying to persuade other Palestinian factions to join a coalition, hoping to persuade the world that the new Cabinet represents all the Palestinians and should not be the target of a boycott.
Another Hamas leader, Mahmoud Zahar, met with other militant factions Monday -- Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine -- to try to gain their support.
Islamic Jihad leader Sheik Nafez Azzam said the group, which boycotted the election, would not join the government. The PFLP, which won just three seats, did not give an answer.
It had been expected that Haniyeh, a relative moderate by Hamas standards, would receive the official appointment on Monday. Palestinian officials did not explain the delay, but Abbas has been pressing Hamas to moderate its anti-Israel positions.
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