MIDLE EAST

FEBRUARY 12 2007 20:38h

Haniyeh urges respect from the West

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GAZA, Feb 12 (Reuters) - Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas appealed to Western powers on Monday to restore aid to the Palestinian Authority and respect a unity government agreement he signed in Mecca with President Mahmoud Abbas.

"The American administration should reconsider its hasty position, which rejects to deal with the will of the Palestinian people," Haniyeh said in a televised speech from Gaza.

"I say to the Quartet and to the European Union that this is the will of the Palestinian people and they should respect it and they should work to end the status of siege."