RAMALLAH, West Bank (Agencies) - The new 132-seat Palestinian parliament, dominated by the radical Islamists of Hamas, was sworn in Saturday at a ceremony presided over by Palestinian Authority president Mahmud Abbas, AFP reported.

"I swear to be faithful to the homeland, to preserve the rights and interests of the people and the nation, to respect the law and to faithfully fulfill my functions," the deputies pledged ahead of a speech by Abbas. Aziz Duweik, a Hamas MP and university professor, was named on Saturday as speaker of the parliament. Dweik told reporters ahead of the swearing-in that Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh will be the next prime minister of the Palestinian Authority.

"Hamas has decided that Ismael Haniyeh will be the prime minister for the next government."

Hamas's election victory last month has put it on a collision course with Abbas's peace policies while major world powers have called for a boycott unless Hamas renounces struggle and drops its vow to destroy Israel.

Abbas said the new government must recognize peace deals with Israel.

"The presidency and the government will continue to respect our commitment to the negotiations as a strategic, pragmatic political choice," Abbas said in his speech carried by Reuters.

"At the same time, we must continue to strengthen and develop forms of popular resistance of a peaceful nature."

Abbas's words won applause from Fatah lawmakers, but not from Hamas members. He urged the continuation of a truce he agreed with Israel over a year ago and which Hamas has largely followed.

After the session, held in the West Bank city of Ramallah and via video link to the Gaza Strip, Abbas was due to formally ask Haniyeh to form a new government.

Hamas won control of the Palestinian Legislative Council in a Jan. 25 parliamentary election, beating Abbas's long-dominant Fatah which is accused of corruption and mismanagement. Hamas won 74 seats in the 132-member parliament.

Hamas to present plan

Hamas officials have said the group will soon present its initiative to parliament including a proposal for a long-term truce with Israel if it withdraws from land captured in the 1967 Middle East war and which Palestinians seek for a state.

Warning of possible turmoil ahead, top Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said that if Hamas's government rejected Abbas's peace policies, "it will be a violation of the constitution, and will lead to a major crisis".

The United States and other world powers have urged nations to boycott Hamas, which has masterminded nearly 60 suicide attacks against Israel since a 2000 uprising, unless it disarms and recognizes the Jewish state and past peace deals.

Defying that call, Russia has said it would invite Hamas to Moscow for talks.

Hamas, which has largely adhered to a truce, has refused to give up its weapons.

Aziz Dweik, chosen by Hamas as the speaker of the new parliament, said the policies of the new government would be based on "negotiating with the preservation of our right to resist (Israel)".

'pragmatist' PM

Below are some facts about Ismail Haniyeh, chosen by Hamas as the next Palestinian prime minister.

* Haniyeh, 43, is widely viewed by Palestinians as a pragmatist who has good relations with rival factions and someone with whom Israel could ultimately do business.

* He led the "Change and Reform" list of Hamas candidates for the parliamentary election last month.

* Haniyeh lives in Beach Refugee Camp in the Gaza Strip and like all Hamas lawmakers, is banned by Israel from travelling to the West Bank. He has 13 children.

* He survived an Israeli air strike in 2003 targeting Hamas's leadership at the height of a Palestinian uprising it has spearheaded with suicide bombings.

* Haniyeh was detained by Israel four times. The longest spell was for three years from 1989.