Palestinian president considers sacking PM

RAMALLAH, March 20 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is mulling sacking Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and assigning an economist to form a new government, a Palestinian official said Wednesday.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Xinhua that differences between Abbas and Fayyad started to mount after Fayyad accepted the resignation of finance minister earlier this month without consulting with Abbas, who was in Saudi Arabia at that time.

After returning home, Abbas held a meeting with leaders from his Fatah movement and expressed anger with Fayyad's move.

Pressure from Fatah on Fayyad grew after his government deducted overdue electricity bills from the salaries of the Palestinian National Authority public servants working in Gaza, which has been controlled by Fatah's rival Hamas since mid-2007.

If Fayyad did get sacked, Abbas would pick Mohammed Mustafa, who just resigned as head of the Palestinian Investment Fund, to head the new government, the official said.

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