March 20, 2007	Tuesday	Safar 30, 1428

GAZA CITY, March 19: A year-long Western diplomatic boycott of the Palestinian government showed some signs of easing on Monday when a Norwegian junior minister met Ismail Haniya, the head of the new unity cabinet.

Deputy Foreign Minister Raymond Johansen became the first Western official to meet a Hamas official in Gaza since the Islamist movement, blacklisted as a terrorist group by Israel and the West, first took office a year ago.

Norway, which does not belong to the European Union, is the first and so far only European country to normalise relations with the Palestinians following the inauguration on Saturday of the unity cabinet including both Hamas and president Mahmud Abbas's secular Fatah faction.

Israel has refused any contact with the new government. Its main ally the United States has said it does not rule out contacts with non-Hamas members of the new government although it has strongly criticised its programme.

But following what he called open and frank talks with Haniya and foreign minister Ziad Abu Amr, an independent member of the new cabinet, Johansen praised Palestinian leaders for securing the unity deal.

He also urged the new government to work hard to secure the release of an Israeli soldier snatched nine months ago by Palestinian militants, including members of Hamas, and to stop rocket attacks on Israel.

“We stated that the unity government has to work very hard to fulfil the international expectations when it comes to intensifying all the efforts to release Corporal (Gilad) Shalit and also to stop the rockets,” he said.

Palestinian government spokesman Ghazi Hamad hailed Norway's “courageous” position, adding: “We hope Norway will play a role to break the embargo.” Information minister Mustafa al-Barghuti welcomed a “beginning of international contact that we are going to forge with many countries.” Despite Norway's overture, the so-called Quartet of sponsors of the stalled peace process has yet to take a position on the new cabinet.

The Quartet -- the European Union, Russia, the United Nations and the United States -- has been demanding that any new government renounce violence and recognise Israel and past deals, although Russia has since distanced itself from the demands.

Haniya's last cabinet rejected the conditions, leading to a crippling Western aid boycott.

Set up to win back aid and end deadly infighting, the new government has stopped short of agreeing to the demands in full, saying it will “respect” past peace deals but affirming its right to all forms of resistance.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice held a conference call with her Quartet counterparts on how to respond.

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the ministers were “taking stock of the situation”.

In Cairo, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit applauded what he said were plans by his Belgian counterpart Karel de Gucht to meet the Palestinian foreign minister, but this was not confirmed by the Belgian minister.—AFP