RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — The outgoing Palestinian prime minister is urging for new elections and says it’s the only way to heal a bitter rift between the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
In a farewell speech broadcast on the local radio on Wednesday, Salam Fayyad says elections would reunite the Palestinians.
The Hamas militant group controls the Gaza Strip, while the Western-backed Palestinian Authority governs autonomous areas in the West Bank.
The rift is a major obstacle to Palestinian dreams of establishing an independent state in the two areas.
The territories have been politically divided since Hamas seized Gaza in 2007.
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Fayyad, an internationally respected economist, resigned last week after bitter conflicts with President Mahmoud Abbas and his Fatah movement, which dominate the Palestinian Authority.
Abbas has not yet appointed a new prime minister.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.
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