Ramallah - Corruption is still rampant in Palestinian public institutions, a Palestinian anti-corruption agency said Wednesday.

The announcement by The Coalition for Accountability and Integrity-Aman sparked a furor among Palestinian officials, who argued that corruption in general has been reined in.

Aman told a news conference in Ramallah that despite some positive reforms, particularly in the area of public fund management, there is still a "general weakness in the system of combating corruption."

Ramallah  - President Barack Obama is committed to the establishment of a sovereign, independent Palestinian state and regards this as a "national interest" of the US, his envoy said Friday in Ramallah.

"This conflict has gone on for far too long. The people of this region should no longer have to wait for the just peace," George Mitchell told reporters, as he wrapped up his first visit to the region since the formation of a new Israeli government that has refused to openly endorse a two-state solution to the conflict.

Ramallah - An Arab-Israeli musician has been banned from the refugee camp in the West Bank where she taught children for taking them to Israel to perform in a concert before an audience that included Holocaust survivors.

Wafa Younis was ordered to leave the camp in Jenin and never return, the head of the camp's "popular committee," Adnan Hindi told the German Press Agency dpa on Wednesday.

Ramallah/Cairo - Palestinian factions will reconvene in Cairo in early April to hash out an agreement on a "national unity" government, representatives of Palestinian factions said Tuesday.

The talks, which were suspended on Thursday after parties failed to agree on such issues as the composition of the new government and whether it will recognise Israel, will reconvene after the March 30 Arab League summit in Qatar, Cairo's official MENA news agency reported.

Ramallah - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Friday called reconciliation talks taking place in Cairo between his secular Fatah party and the radical Islamist Hamas movement ruling Gaza "difficult."

"I do not want to say that there are hurdles or obstacles," he told reporters in Ramallah.

"The talks are difficult and they need effort, good intentions and a real desire to reach reconciliation," he said.

Ramallah - The political unification of the West Bank and Gaza Strip is the Palestinians' greatest priority, according to an opinion poll Monday, as factions from both sides begin unity talks in Cairo.

The poll, conducted by the Ramallah-based Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PCPSR), said 46 per cent of Palestinians surveyed said unity is their most important priority, followed by 28 per cent saying peace between Israel and the Hamas-led government in the Gaza Strip.