RAMALLAH, February 25, 2012 (WAFA) –Minister of Local Government Khaled Qawasmi Saturday dissolved al-Bireh city council citing resignation of more than half of the council members as the reason for his decision, said Safwan Halabi, director general of Local Government in the Ramallah and al-Bireh governorate.

The ministry formed a new committee to run municipal affairs until local elections are held. It will be headed by Tawfik Burdairi and with the participation of representatives from various ministries including health, education, social affairs and housing.

Local elections, previously held at three different intervals and the last of which was conduceted in 2005, were supposed to be held last year after more than the legal four-year period for the councils has expired.

However, Hamas refusal to hold them in the Gaza Strip along with the West Bank and a decision to wait until a national unity government is formed had postponed holding them indefinitely.

The al-Bireh municipal council was predominately run by Hamas-backed Reform and Change bloc. Its mayor, Jamal Tawil, was in Israeli prison when he was elected and named as mayor. He has been released since then after serving five years in prison but later re-arrested and again released.

R.Q./M.S.