Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas and moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas agreed Wednesday to start negotiations on forming a broader government, a government spokesman said. The decision was made during a meeting between Abbas and Haniyeh, said Ghazi Hamad, a spokesman for the Hamas government. «In principle, there is agreement on this issue,» said Hamad. «They will start negotiations between the president and the Palestinian factions.» Haniyeh told Abbas a broader government can only be formed after a number of Hamas Cabinet ministers and legislators, arrested by Israel in recent weeks, have been released, according to a report of the Associated Press.
