Fatah leaders are divided over re-appointed Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad's plan to create a unity government as he re-assembles the resigned ministerial cabinet.

Since handing in his government's resignation on 14 February and being re-appointed as Prime Minister, Fayyad has said he hopes to use the mandate given to him to reconstruct the cabinet as an opportunity to cobble together a body which would put an end to political infighting, and lead the way to municipal, national and presidential elections in the coming five months.

The plan, according to reports, would see Hamas retain control of Gaza, and would put Hamas officials - likely leaders elected under the party to the PLC in 2006 - into the new cabinet.

Hamas leaders in Gaza spoke out angrily after the plan was announced, saying they had never been contacted, while Fatah rejected the idea and issued a statement saying a new cabinet should focus on Jerusalem.

Fayyad's plan did, however, re-open the doors to unity talks, after finding Hamas officials amenable to the idea of joining a cabinet.

The Fatah reaction to the plan, which appears to remain as an option in the political arena, however, ranges from lukewarm to virulent opposition, with officials pushing for the unity plan conceived by the leading West Bank party.

Member of the Fatah central committee Mahmoud Al-Alul dismissed the plan, saying "there is no such thing as the Fayyad initiative," and explaining that elections and a unity government were part of the reconciliation talks hosted by Egypt.

He said unity was part of a constellation of issues, which could not be resolved independently.

"The move is premature, we can't talk about such initiatives before we resolve the elections issue," he added.

A second Fatah official, Mohammad Al-Madani, said the idea had merit, particularly since it was popularly supported. "Any step toward reunification that is received positively can be built on," adding that the "ball is in the Hamas court."

The Fayyad plan, he said, was "a search for an exit to division."

Member of the Fatah revolutionary council Hatem Abdul Qader, however, had nothing good to say about the plan, attacking Fayyad for the initiative, saying "he has no right to present political initiatives whether internal or external because he is just an employee who is charged with managing the services offered to the residents [of the West Bank]; no more no less."

The official said the move was dangerous and had been "rejected by Fatah because it would enforce division and entrench it as a political concept, since it deals with Gaza as a separate entity from the West Bank."

In contrast, Abdul Qader said, the Fatah plan and the Egyptian unity document "is a progressive step toward an end to political division, because it treats the homeland as a whole."