Palestinian unity deal faces big hurdle

RAMALLAH, West Bank -- A mounting rebellion by Hamas leaders in Gaza against a breakthrough power-sharing agreement with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas highlights a potentially fatal flaw: The deal never spelled out how the Western-backed leader can take charge again in Gaza, which he lost to a violent takeover by the Islamic militants.

Former bitter foes Abbas and Khaled Mashaal, Hamas' top leader in exile, signed the Qatar-brokered deal in Doha last week, saying they are committed to a true partnership. Abbas is to head an interim unity government that replaces rival administrations in the West Bank and Gaza and leads the Palestinians to general elections.

Abbas needs to strike a delicate balance to make it work. He has to satisfy international demands that the interim government, to consist of politically independent technocrats, not be a front for Hamas, shunned by the West as a terror group. If it is seen as too close to Hamas, the Palestinians are likely to lose hundreds of millions of dollars in Western aid.

At the same time, he risks sabotage from Hamas leaders in Gaza if he tries to strip them of too much of their power. In the nearly five years it ruled the territory, Hamas hired some 40,000 civil servants and security forces, many of them supporters of the movement, while 62,000 troops and civil servants forced out by the 2007 takeover, many of them pro-Abbas, are waiting to return to their old government jobs.

Gaza leaders of Hamas have voiced their misgivings in increasingly strident tones. Last week, the Hamas bloc of legislators said the deal is illegal because Abbas cannot serve as both president and prime minister.

On Saturday, the Hamas strongman in Gaza, Mahmoud Zahar, complained that Mashaal did not consult with other leaders in the movement before signing the deal and that the decision-making Shura Council should meet to correct what he termed a mistake.