European Union's foreign policy chief Javier Solana has considered the change of the Palestinian government "an internal Palestinian issue" and said late yesterday the EU would "deal" with the new government to be formed by Speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council Ahmed Qurei.

"It is an internal Palestinian issue. The Palestinian people are entitled to choose their own ministers," Solana said after talks during a brief stopover at the Amman Airport yesterday with Jordanian Foreign Minister Marwan Muashser and his Palestinian counterpart Nabil Shaath.

The meeting followed mounting concerns over the resignation of the Palestinian government led by outgoing Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas and escalating Israeli military attacks on Palestinians.

Solana flew in from Cairo, while Shaath came from Ramallah, where the Palestinian leadership held intensive consultations over the past couple of days to study the implications of Abu Mazen's resignation.

The Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), the Palestinians' top decision-making body, yesterday unanimously supported a proposal by Palestinian President Yasser Arafat nominating Qurei as new Prime Minister.

"We will deal with the new Palestinian government," Solana said, urging both the Palestinians and Israelis to "honour their commitments under the roadmap, which both parties have no other alternative despite the difficult circumstances surrounding it".

Muasher said that the principles enshrined in the roadmap "are still alive and acceptable to all".

"It is quite clear that the Israeli side has failed to abide by what is provided for in the roadmap", the Jordanian minister said, citing Israel's continued building of the buffer wall, the settlement activity and the assassination of Palestinians as examples.

Shaath said that the internal Palestinian crisis was "in the course of solution".

"The choice of Qurei as Prime Minister means that the crisis will not last for a long time," he added.

It was the first meeting between Solana and a Palestinian minister after the EU foreign ministers decided in Italy on Saturday to blacklist the political wing of the hard-line Palestinian group Hamas.- Saapa-DPA.