Political Skullduggery

Hamas is having a bit of difficulty getting politicians of other Palestinian parties to become ministers in the first cabinet to be led by the Islamic group widely shunned for using terrorist tactics.

Hamas finalized a proposed cabinet Sunday that would place several key ministries in the hands of senior leaders but not include any other Palestinian faction, precisely the narrowly partisan government that the radical Islamic movement had hoped to avoid.

Ismail Haniyeh, the designated prime minister, submitted the list to Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, whose secular Fatah party declined to join the cabinet. The cabinet's makeup is likely to complicate efforts to persuade international donors to continue funding the government once Hamas, designated a terrorist organization by the United States and European Union, assumes control of the ministries.

"Their task was to have as wide a government as possible with Fatah, other factions and independents," said Ali Jarbawi, a political science professor at Beir Zeit University in the West Bank. "The cabinet they have proposed will be, in effect, all Hamas. They are facing a deep problem."

Their problem in fielding a broad-based government could cost them:

Haniyeh's proposed cabinet, which was due by the end of the month, could change in the weeks ahead. Hamas will probably continue seeking partners to broaden its domestic support and assuage international donors, who supply nearly half of the Palestinian Authority's roughly $2 billion annual budget.