Hamas outlawed as emergency Cabinet sworn in

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas swore in a new government without Hamas and outlawed the Hamas militia, deepening the crisis between the two sides after the Islamic group seized control of Gaza in a quick military victory last week.

Mr Abbas, whose Fatah movement was routed in Gaza, said he would push hard to restore foreign aid to the Palestinians after a punishing 15-month boycott.

But the blockade of Gaza intensified, with border crossings remaining closed and an Israeli company cutting off fuel supplies.

The hurried swearing-in ceremony of the new Cabinet in effect left the Palestinians with two governments - the Hamas leadership headed by deposed Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh in Gaza and the new Cabinet led by the Western-backed economist Salam Fayyad in the West Bank.

"The first priority of our government is security and the security situation," Mr Fayyad said. "The mission will be difficult and hard, but not impossible."

Mr Fayyad, an independent, will retain his post as finance minister and also serve as foreign minister in the emergency government. The small Cabinet is dominated by independents, including human rights activists and business people.

In his speech, Mr Fayyad stressed the government represented Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. The Palestinians claim both areas for a state, but the internal strife has endangered that goal.

Mr Abbas cleared the way for the Cabinet to take power by annulling a law requiring the government to be approved by parliament, which is dominated by Hamas. He also issued a decree outlawing Hamas' militias "due to their military coup against the Palestinian Authority and its institutions."

However, Abbas' attempts to assert control only deepened the Palestinian divisions. In Gaza, Haniyeh called the new government illegal and insisted he remained in power.

"The national unity government asserts here that we are fulfilling our duty according to our law," he said.

In the showdown, much of the international community, including the US, the European Union and moderate Arab states, is backing Mr Abbas.

Declarations of support were likely to be followed soon by a resumption of foreign aid to the Palestinian Authority, which was cut when Hamas took office last year. The sanctions have caused widespread suffering in the Palestinian areas.

"The first goal we are working to achieve is to end the siege and have a unique relationship with all the nations," Mr Abbas said after swearing in the new Cabinet.

Both Israel and the United States already have said they would work to bolster Abbas, while isolating Hamas. The US, EU and Israel consider Hamas, which has killed hundreds of Israelis in suicide bombings, to be a terrorist group.

At the outset of a trip to the US, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said the new Palestinian government would create a "new opportunity" for reviving peace talks.

He also indicated he would consider releasing hundreds of millions of dollars in tax transfers that Israel has been withholding from the Palestinians since Hamas won Palestinian parliamentary elections in January 2006.

The situation in Gaza is expected to dominate Mr Olmert's meeting at the White House tomorrow.