Abbas, Mashaal to seal unity government agreement in Cairo next week

        Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and the Damascus-based political leader of Hamas, Khaled Mashaal, are scheduled to meet in Cairo next week to sign an agreement on a unity government. Hamas and Fatah announced Tuesday night that they had struck a deal on a unity government during talks mediated by the Egyptians in Cairo. The head of the Fatah negotiating team, Azzam al-Ahmed, said the new government would be announced by Abbas and Mashaal in their meeting next week. But he noted that the two parties had still not agreed on a prime minister. Hamas has opposed Fatah's appointment of Salam Fayyad as prime minister, and Al-Jazeera reported that he would be excluded from the new government. Al-Jazeera claimed that the two sides had agreed on who would be the next prime minister, but would make the announcement after Abbas meets Mashaal in Cairo. (10,00)