Mideast - AFP
Palestinian leaders agree uneasy truce as former minister shot and wounded
Date: Tue, Jul 20, 2004
RAMALLAH, West Bank (AFP) - Palestinian premier Ahmed Qorei reached an uneasy truce with leader Yasser Arafat (news - web sites), refusing to retract his resignation but agreeing to stay on for the moment, as pressure grew for an end to the crisis.
To underscore the political tensions, a former Palestinian minister was shot and seriously wounded by Palestinian gunmen late Tuesday night.
"There has been no breakthrough. Abu Alaa (Qorei) has not changed his position about resigning," minister without portfolio Qadura Fares said after Qorei and his cabinet met with Arafat here.
"Abu Alaa is prepared to continue in his position for the time being but only until the formation of a new government," he told AFP.
Qorei resigned on Saturday after a breakdown in law and order in the Gaza Strip (news - web sites), including an unprecedented spate of kidnappings, but Arafat has refused to accept his stepping down.
After street protests in Gaza forced him to execute an embarrassing U-turn over his choice of security supremo on Monday, Arafat can ill afford to be seen losing a battle of wills with his prime minister.
International pressure is also growing on Arafat, with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan (news - web sites) and EU foreign policy supremo Javier Solana urging him to grasp control of the situation by working with Qorei.
Arafat's top aide Nabil Abu Rudeina tried to insist that the stand-off between the two men had been resolved in Tuesday's meeting.
"At today's meeting, President Arafat repeated his refusal to accept Abu Alaa's resignation and he renewed his confidence in him," he told reporters.
"The resignation of Abu Alaa has been officially refused and he will remain in his place and the issue is finished."
Negotiations minister Saeb Erakat, an Arafat loyalist, confirmed that the standoff was far from over, although he denied it was personal.
"President Arafat completely rejected the resignation of Abu Alaa but Abu Alaa is still insisting that he is resigning," he told AFP.
"The crisis is still ongoing, not because of Abu Alaa's resignation but because of the reasons behind his resignation.
"We hope to overcome this crisis as soon as possible in the interests of the Palestinian people."
The crisis was also expected to be played out on the floor of the Palestinian parliament on Wednesday when a committee tasked with investigating security in the territories delivers a report.
Former information minister and current MP Nabil Amr said the atmosphere was likely to be "very hot" and said there was a possibility deputies would push for a no-confidence motion in the Qorei government.
Hours later, Amr was set upon by Palestinian gunmen at the door to his home, beaten, dragged along the ground and then shot several times in the leg.
Doctors said his wounds were serious but that his life was not in danger.
In Washington, David Satterfield, deputy assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, pointed to a personality clash rather than a fundamental shift toward reform.
In remarks to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he said "I wish I could tell you ... that the events of the past three days represent a genuine movement toward reform, toward structural changes, toward leadership transformation.
"But while those events are still in some fashion going on, I think our judgment is this represents more of an internal clash between personalities than it does a fundamental shift on the critical structural and leadership issues which we, the quartet and Egypt have all insisted upon," he stressed.
The Gaza protests, which at one stage erupted into armed clashes between the security forces and militants traditionally loyal to Arafat, was sparked by the appointment of his unpopular cousin Musa as head of the general security service.
Arafat subsequently demoted Musa on Monday by naming Abdel Razzeq al-Majeida as overall security boss, with his cousin's responsibility limited to Gaza.
While calm has returned to the streets of Gaza, the political and security crisis presented Arafat with his biggest challenge since he returned from exile to the territories some 10 years ago.
One leading Palestinian MP, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Arafat was now on the brink.
"He has reached the edge of the precipice and it is a long way down," the deputy told AFP.
International pressure was also growing on Arafat, with the EU's Solana urging him to yield more power to Qorei after holding talks with Jordanian Foreign Minister Marwan Moasher in Amman.
"I think that the manner to tackle the issue (of the Palestinian crisis) is having an efficient PM with power and abilities. What happened in the last few days is a very important signal and everybody should take good note (that) what is needed is order, law, good behaviour and vision for the future," he said.
In Cairo later Tuesday for a meeting on Iraq (news - web sites), he said the European Union (news - web sites) hopes for a return to calm in Gaza in the coming days.
He spoke after a meeting with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit, who described the situation in Gaza as "sensitive" and expressed hopes Israel would not aggravate the situation.
Annan, whose special envoy to the region delivered a damning report into Arafat's stewardship last week, also called for matters to be brought under control quickly.
"It is a serious crisis with the prime minister at the centre of it. Chairman Arafat should really take the time to listen to the prime minister and other members of his leadership, and take the necessary steps to bring the situation under control."
SOURCE
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