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Politics : Stop the War! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: lorne who wrote (15237)	4/22/2003 11:15:18 AM
From: E. T.	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 21614

Arafat and Abbas hold firm Associated Press Jerusalem — Yasser Arafat and his prime minister-designate, Mahmoud Abbas, clung to their positions Tuesday in a bitter dispute over whom to name security chief, raising the possibility that Mr. Abbas will fail to form a cabinet and resign. Mr. Abbas’ resignation could cause considerable delays in unveiling a U.S.-backed peace plan, a “road map” to full Palestinian statehood within three years. Mr. Abbas must present a list of ministers to Mr. Arafat by midnight Wednesday, and the Palestinian parliament would then have a week to vote on the new cabinet. The duel is closely watched by international mediators, who have been urging Mr. Arafat not to stand in Mr. Abbas’s way. Arab, European and U.S. officials have been calling Mr. Arafat in recent days to deliver the message. It remains unclear whether the dispute between Mr. Arafat and Mr. Abbas is a narrow one, over cabinet appointments, or a wider struggle over how much authority Mr. Arafat — for decades the sole leader of the Palestinians — is willing to relinquish to Mr. Abbas. Ostensibly, the main disagreement is over Mohammed Dahlan, a former Gaza security chief whom Mr. Abbas wants to name to a key security position. Mr. Dahlan has said he is confident he can lead a crackdown on Palestinian militias, and enjoys Israeli and U.S. support. Mr. Arafat does not want the independent-minded Mr. Dahlan in the cabinet, and prefers a confidant, Hani al-Hassan, as security chief. Mr. al-Hassan has not confronted militant groups since being named interior minister last year, and has been unable to persuade them to halt attacks on Israel. Hassan Khreisheh, a Palestinian legislator, said Tuesday that Mr. Arafat is trying to sabotage Mr. Abbas’s cabinet list because he is unwilling to give up power. “He [Arafat] fears he will not be the strongman in the coming phase,” Mr. Khreisheh said. Lawmaker Hanan Ashrawi said the wrangling showed Mr. Arafat is having a hard time letting go of power, but she also criticized Mr. Abbas, known as Abu Mazen, for having made some cabinet appointments based on loyalty, rather than merit. “We had hoped that this would be a qualitative leadership change,” she said, adding that instead both men played by the old rules of personal allegiances. The ruling Fatah party supports Mr. Arafat in the showdown, with many Fatah officials complaining that Mr. Dahlan is corrupt and inexperienced. Fatah controls a majority in the 88-member parliament, and without its support, Mr. Abbas will not win approval for his cabinet. The Israeli daily Haaretz, citing Palestinian sources, reported Tuesday that Mr. Arafat is trying to undercut Mr. Abbas because of the prime minister’s plan to disarm militias, including the Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade linked to Fatah. The report could not be confirmed independently. Mr. Arafat and Mr. Abbas have not spoken since a stormy meeting Saturday, and no meetings were scheduled Tuesday. There were no signs that either was ready to compromise. Speaker of the Palestinian parliament Ahmed Qureia and Mr. al-Hassan, both mentioned as possible candidates for prime minister, met with Mr. Arafat on Tuesday at his West Bank headquarters in the town of Ramallah. Palestinian officials initially said parliament would have to hold a vote on a new cabinet by Wednesday. However, legislators have since said that Mr. Abbas has more time. He needs to present a cabinet list to Mr. Arafat by Wednesday, and a parliament vote would have to be held within a week after that, said Abdel Salah Abu Karim, head of parliament’s law committee. Israel’s foreign minister, Silvan Shalom, discussed the wrangling over the Palestinian cabinet with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell in a phone call, according to Jonathan Peled, a Foreign Ministry spokesman. Mr. Shalom told Mr. Powell that “as long as Arafat continues to be an obstacle, it will be very difficult to make progress on the road map,” Mr. Peled said. The Israeli minister also said Israel has no preference as to who the Palestinian prime minister will be as long as he has sufficient authority. globeandmail.ca