Palestinian PM resigns
June 20, 2013
The prime minister's office said on Thursday Hamdallah had stepped down because of a "conflict over authority." It was not immediately clear whether President Mahmoud Abbas would accept his resignation.
Hamdallah took over for Salam Fayyad, a US-educated economist, who resigned on April 13.
Hamdallah, the president of An-Nanjah National University in the West Bank city of Nablus, took office on June 6 after being appointed by Abbas. His cabinet had met for the first time just last week.
Hamdallah had never intended to hold the job on a long-term basis, saying shortly after he was appointed that he would rule only for a "transitional period" until government uniting Abbas' Fatah party and the rival Hamas movement, which governs the Gaza Strip, could be formed.
Abbas' Fatah government exercises limited self-rule over the Israel-occupied West-Bank, while Hamas has controlled the Gaza Strip since their election victory there in 2006.
dr/pfd (AP, Reuters, AFP, dpa)