Updated on Sunday, March 25, 2007, 00:00 IST

Ramallah, March 25: Sweden's top diplomat offered cautious support for the new Palestinian government on Sunday, but said further steps are needed before the Hamas-Fatah coalition can be given full international recognition.

Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said he welcomed the Unity agreement between the Islamist Hamas and the more moderate Fatah. He noted that "significant steps have been taken" toward complying with three key international demands-- that the Palestinians renounce violence, recognize Israel and commit to peace agreements.

The platform of the coalition does not explicitly meet those demands, but Palestinian moderates say that its call for an Israeli withdrawal from lands Israel occupied in the 1967 Mideast war is an implicit recognition of the Jewish state.

Bildt said his country would look "not only at the words" of the new government, "but also at the deeds".

Bildt spoke at a news conference with Palestinian Information Minister Mustafa Baghouti, a political independent who has become the new coalition's chief spokesman.

Israel is maintaining a full boycott of the new government, but the US and other countries, including Sweden, are going ahead with contacts with independents and Fatah representatives while avoiding Hamas members.

"We hope that Sweden and Europe will very quickly recognize and deal with this government, and deal with it officially, with all its ministers and with all its sections," Barghouti told reporters.

But Bildt said there are no immediate plans to hold contacts with Hamas representatives.

Bureau Report