Following a week of violent clashes between the government's two leading forces - the radical Islamic movement Hamas and the pro-presidential and more moderate Fatah, President Mahmoud Abbas ousted Hamas's premier and formed a new government led by a Western-leaning Fatah economist, Salam Fayyad.
"I think that we have in President Abbas and in the Prime Minister, Palestinian leaders who will take a responsible course," Condoleezza Rice told the State Department. "We're going to support the course that they develop and that they outline."
The United Nations, the U.S., the European Union, Russia, Israel, and Egypt have praised the new Palestinian government, which replaced a coalition Cabinet. The West and Israel had considered Hamas, which refused to recognize the state of Israel, a terrorist organization.
"We intend to lift our financial restrictions on the Palestinian government, which has accepted previous agreements with Israel and rejects the path of violence," the U.S. official said.
