The cabinet, which will include critics of Palestinian
President Yasser Arafat (news - web sites), reformists, and a powerful ex-Gaza
security chief as sought by Washington and international
mediators, will go to the Palestinian legislature for
ratification early next week.
The cabinet's confirmation, following agreement between
Arafat and his prime minister-designate Mahmoud Abbas on
Wednesday, will trigger release of the "road map," a staged
peace plan drafted by the United States, the United Nations (news - web sites),
the European Union (news - web sites) and Russia.
White House spokesman Ari Fleischer (news - web sites) said the road map would
be officially published following the ratification of the
Palestinian cabinet. He said both sides would be able to
contribute to the plan's formula at that time.
It envisions measures that include a halt to Palestinian
violence and an end to Jewish settlement building in the West
Bank and Gaza Strip (news - web sites), paving the way for Palestinian statehood
in the two territories by 2005.
"This very well may be the right time, the right moment to
do something new and different in the Middle East in terms of
the parties working together to achieve peace," Fleischer said.
Israel has said it has several reservations over the plan.
Fleischer said Washington recognized that "in the end it is
up to the Israelis and the Palestinians to work together on
agreement about the terms of the road map."
Under the cabinet deal reached in Ramallah after five weeks
of wrangling, Abbas will hold on to the Interior Ministry,
while Mohammed Dahlan, the powerful ex-Gaza security chief,
will be in charge of internal security.
CRUCIAL TO SUCCESS
Dahlan's appointment was crucial to the cabinet, since one
of the first challenges of the Abbas government will be
cracking down on militants waging a 30-month uprising for
independence.
Arafat was initially against granting Dahlan a cabinet
portfolio, but apparently relented under intense international
pressure.
Abdel Aziz al-Rantisi, a senior official in the Islamic
militant Hamas group which has spearheaded a suicide bombing
campaign against Israel during the uprising, said Hamas and
other groups would not be cowed by the new government.
"I believe resistance is the will of the people and anyone
trying to challenge it will fall," Rantisi said.
Palestinian sources said the yet-to-be-finalized list also
retained reformist Salam Fayyad as finance minister and
appointed an Arafat critic to the justice portfolio in the
place of one of the president's loyalists.
Israel and the United States have demanded Palestinians
sideline Arafat, whom they blame for much of the violence in
the uprising for independence, before peace talks can resume.
Arafat has denied the accusations.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (news - web sites) refrained from directly
commenting on the Palestinian step forward but said any peace
agreement would need a person "on the other side" who "wants to
stop terrorism and seek peace."
Washington and Europe view Abbas, a former peace negotiator
and perceived moderate, as critical to reforms they hope will
encourage Israel to withdraw from Palestinian cities and curb
Jewish settlement construction as stipulated by the road map.
At least 2,005 Palestinians and 733 Israelis have been
killed since the uprising began in September 2000 after talks
on a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza froze.
(Additional reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi)
