EU

       The new Palestinian unity government must clearly state that it recognizes Israel, the EU's foreign policy chief Javier Solana said Thursday. "There are many ways whereby you can express the recognition of Israel," Solana told The Associated Press. "I am not going to define what is the manner that would be the most appropriate, that's for them to decide, but in any case it has to be sufficiently clear that statement can be read and not only imagined." Solana spoke in an interview before an EU summit where French President Jacques Chirac was expected to press other European leaders to support the Palestinian efforts to form a coalition government.The Palestinian unity government is "99 percent" agreed upon, but will
not be announced until next week, Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas said on Thursday after talks with his political rival, Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas.The cabinet line-up is likely to be unveiled only after Abbas has met Prime Minister Ehud Olmert early next week for talks which Palestinian officials say might cover extending a ceasefire with Israel from Gaza to the occupied West Bank.

Olmert plans to ask Abbas to account for e100 million in Palestinian tax money which Israel transferred to him earlier this year, the prime minister's spokeswoman Miri Eisen said.(19,41)