The Palestinians' rival leaders have quietly decided to keep their respective governments in the West Bank and Gaza in place until elections. This proposal would remove a major obstacle for efforts to reconcile the factions: the need to form an interim unity government. The understanding was reached between Western-backed Abbas and Khaled Meshal, chief of the Islamic militant Hamas, during one-on-one talks last week. Another top Hamas official, Moussa Abu Marzouk said that it was at least possible to skip an interim government and head straight to elections, tentatively scheduled for May. However, Abbas envoy Azzam al-Ahmed on Saturday denied the two leaders reached such an understanding. He said: "There is no possibility of holding elections without a unity government,".
