Arafat holding up Qurei govt. over interior minister (Arafat pulls the PA strings OR ELSE)

AP/The Jerusalem Post ^ | 3 | ASSOCIATED PRESS

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Nov. 3, 2003
Arafat holding up Qurei govt. over interior minister
By ASSOCIATED PRESS

PA Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei
Photo: AP

Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei and Yasser Arafat made no apparent progress Monday toward resolving their dispute over the choice of security chief, the main hurdle to forming a new government.

Qureia said after a two-hour meeting with the veteran Palestinian leader that the issue is "still under study." Qurei's formal deadline for forming a Cabinet is midnight Tuesday, though an Arafat aide later said he could ask for more time.

Renewed political wrangling over the composition of the Cabinet would deepen the deadlock over U.S.-backed "road map" peace plan and hold up Qureia's planned meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and leaders of Hamas.

In the West Bank town of Ramallah, Qurei met with Arafat and several other members of the National Security Council as part of consultations on a new Cabinet.

Qurei and Arafat remain at odds over the choice of interior minister, who will play a key role in any possible action against armed groups. At the core of the dispute is Arafat's refusal to relinquish control over some of the security forces.

For the past month, Qurei has presided over a small emergency Cabinet that operated without parliamentary backing and was virtually paralyzed. Over the weekend, Arafat asked Qurei to stay on the job and form a regular government.

Once he has a government, Qurei plans to hold separate talks with Sharon and Hamas leaders to try to break the deadlock over implementation of the road map. Israeli media said a Qurei-Sharon summit could take place by the weekend.

In recent days, there has been a slight easing of the tensions between Israeli and Palestinian leaders, following a month of particularly stringent Israeli travel bans on Palestinians.

Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz confirmed that he met Sunday with a senior Palestinian official, reportedly Finance Minister Salam Fayad. Mofaz said more high-level meetings would be held once Qurei has formed a government.

Qurei has said his top priority is to negotiate a truce with Israel. Sharon has rejected the idea, saying the Palestinian Authority must first dismantle militant groups, as required by the "road map" peace plan.

However, Sharon has come under increasing criticism at home, including from his army chief, for pursuing a policy of military strikes, without pushing hard to resume peace talks. Last week, Sharon said he was open to holding talks without conditions, a turnaround from his earlier demands that violence must stop first.

Hamas, in turn, said it was only willing to agree to a partial truce. Abdel Aziz Rantisi, a Hamas leader, said the group would be willing to halt attacks on Israeli civilians, but not on soldiers and settlers in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

"The only thing which can be offered is to continue resistance, but to avoid (spare) civilians from both sides," Rantisi said. "If the enemy does not accept it, the resistance will continue in a comprehensive level."

Israel has made it clear that a partial truce would not be acceptable, and Qurei has said he hopes to reach a comprehensive cease-fire.

Qurei's task of forming a Cabinet did not appear any easier Monday than a month ago when, at the last minute, he backed away from presenting his proposed team to parliament for approval because of intense political wrangling.

Despite the difficulties, Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, said Monday he is believes a new government can be formed within two days.

"It's very realistic," Erekat said, but acknowledged that "there are still some problems concerning the interior minister."

In other developments Monday, parliament approved hard-liner Rafik Natche, a former agriculture minister, as parliament speaker. The post is important because the speaker would become acting leader of the Palestinian Authority if Arafat steps aside or dies. Qureia left the speaker's post when he was made prime minister.

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In other developments Monday, parliament approved hard-liner Rafik Natche, a former agriculture minister, as parliament speaker.

This is the PA way of saying no peace even after Arafat is gone.

Ratche to Israel: no peace for you!