Abbas wins Western pledges for aid

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' emergency cabinet, bolstered by Western promises to resume aid, vowed yesterday to exert its authority over the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.

"The government will pursue its jurisdiction over all parts of the homeland, regardless of what happened in Gaza," Abbas' Information Minister Riyad al-Malki told reporters after the new government met in the West Bank town of Ramallah.

Abbas formed the new cabinet last week in the West Bank after the Hamas Islamist group's armed wing routed security forces dominated by his Fatah movement in Gaza.