Based on the initiative put forth by Saudi King Abdullah Ben Abdul Aziz and under his sponsorship, Fateh and Hamas met in Mecca on February 6-8, 2007 to hold a dialogue on Palestinian conciliation, which fortunately ended in success; an agreement was reached on the following:

First: a ban on the shedding of Palestinian blood including the adoption of all necessary measures to prevent this; reaffirmation of the importance of national unity as a basis for national steadfastness, confronting the occupation and achieving the legitimate national goals of the Palestinian people; adopting the language of dialogue as the sole basis for solving political disagreements in the Palestinian arena.

Within this context, we would like to thank our brothers in Egypt and the Egyptian security delegation in Gaza which exerted tremendous efforts to bring calm to the situation in the Gaza Strip.

Second: Reaching a final agreement on forming a Palestinian national unity government according to a detailed agreement approved by both sides, and which would be based on taking the appropriate constitutional measures to form this government.

Third: To move forth in activating and reforming the PLO and expediting the work of the preparatory committee based on the Cairo and Damascus Understandings.

Detailed steps in this regard have also been agreed upon by both sides.

Fourth: To reinforce the principle of political partnership on the basis of enacted laws in the PNA and on the basis of political pluralism according to an agreement ratified by both parties.

We are happy to present this agreement to our people, to the Arab and Islamic nation and to all our friends throughout the world. We pledge our commitment to this agreement in letter and in spirit so that we can devote our time to achieving our national goals, eliminating the occupation and regaining our rights. We need to devote our time to key issues, mainly Jerusalem, the refugees, the Aqsa Mosque, the prisoners and detainees and to our battle against the wall and settlements.

Following is the text of the letter of commission from President Abbas to Prime Minister Haniyyeh:

Mr. Ismail Abdul Salam Haniyyeh,

Greetings,

In my capacity as Chairman of the PLO Executive Committee and President of the PNA, after reviewing the Basic Law and based on my mandated authorities:

First: I commission you to form the next Palestinian government within the period stipulated in the Basic Law.

Second: After the formation of the government is concluded and presented to me, it will be presented to the PLC for a confidence vote.

Third: I call on you as premier of the next government to abide by the interests of the Palestinian people; to protect their rights and preserve and develop their achievements; and to work towards achieving their national goals as ratified by the resolutions of the PNC, the Basic Law, the national conciliation document and the resolutions of Arab summits.

Accordingly, I call on you to respect legitimate Arab and international resolutions and agreements signed by the PLO.

May God be with you in your duties.

Following is the preliminary agreement on the distribution of ministerial portfolios:

– The current Prime Minister Ismail Haniyyeh shall assume the post of premier in the national unity government.

– President Abbas shall appoint a Deputy PM.

– Ziad Abu Amro (Independent) shall be appointed as Minister of Foreign Affairs.

– Salam Fayyad (Independent) shall be appointed as Finance Minister.

– Hamas will nominate an independent figure for the post of Interior Minister on condition that President Abbas approves this nomination.

– Hamas will be appointed eight ministries: Education and Higher Education, Islamic Waqf, Labor, Local Government, Youth and Sports, Justice, Telecommunications and Information Technology, Economy in addition to a state minister.

– Hamas will also name an independent figure for the post of the Planning Minister and another independent person for state minister.

– Fateh will be appointed six ministries: Health, Social Affairs, Public Works, Transportation, Agriculture and Prisoners Affairs.

– Fateh will appoint the Minister of Foreign Affairs (Ziad Abu Amro) and an independent figure as state minister.

– Four ministries will be left to the four remaining blocs in the PLC: Ministry of Information, Ministry of Women’s Affairs, Ministry of Tourism and Ministry of Culture.

– The four blocs shall nominate their own people for these ministries in agreement with the PM.