The Palestinian unity government that was sworn in on March 17th, after ten months of haggling, contained few surprises. The secular Fatah party has six ministers; Islamist Hamas, which ousted it in last year's election, has 12; the other seven went to independents and members of small, centrist parties. The final sticking-point, over who would be interior minister in charge of the massive security forces of the Palestinian Authority (PA), has been settled by giving the job to an unknown bureaucrat and creating a national security council on which both main parties have voices, and will continue to struggle for control. Hamas, for instance, has already objected to the appointment of Mohammed Dahlan, Fatah's strongman in Gaza, as the council's secretary.
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