Arafat swears in new Palestinian cabinet

Home>>World

Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, October 08, 2003

Arafat swears in new Palestinian cabinet

A visibly pale Yasir Arafat swore in an emergency Palestinian government on Tuesday, a move seen as reducing the likelihood of Israeli action against the Palestinian leader.

DISCUSSION

CHINESE

SEND TO FRIEND

A visibly pale Yasir Arafat swore in an emergency Palestinian government on Tuesday, a move seen as reducing the likelihood of Israeli action against the Palestinian leader.

The nine-member cabinet led by Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei faces the immediate challenge of defusing the latest crisis with Israel. Mr. Arafat created the new government by decree on Sunday, a day after a Palestinian suicide bombing killed 19 Israelis and prompted a renewed Israeli debate on ousting Mr. Arafat.

The previous Palestinian government resigned a month ago, and the pragmatic Mr. Qurei, who has logged countless hours negotiating with Israelis, will try to provide political stability and perhaps relieve some of the pressure on Mr. Arafat.

Mr. Qurei, commonly known as Abu Ala, says his immediate goal is a truce and the revival of the Middle East peace plan, known as the road map.

"This government wants to seek a cease-fire, the implementation of the road map, and the return of the peace process," Nabil Shaath, the foreign minister, said after the brief ceremony at Mr. Arafat's battered compound in Ramallah, just north of Jerusalem.

Mr. Arafat has always maintained ultimate control over the security forces, and that issue contributed to the resignation of the previous prime minister, Mahmoud Abbas, who quit on Sept. 6 after four months in office.

Palestinian officials insisted that Mr. Yousef had accepted the post and would be sworn in soon. But they gave conflicting accounts concerning his absence. Some said he was at Mr. Arafat's compound and chose not to attend. Others said he was ill and was not at the compound.

The new Palestinian government has been greeted with much less enthusiasm than the one installed last spring.

That government marked the creation of the prime minister's post, a reform intended to remove some of the power concentrated in Mr. Arafat's hands since the Palestinian Authority was established in 1994.

The new cabinet consists of eight members of Mr. Arafat's Fatah movement and one independent, an arrangement that is drawing criticism from Palestinian factions that have been left out.

Mr. Qurei says he wants all Palestinian factions to consent to an open-ended truce, and Israel to agree to a cease-fire. However, Palestinian officials say they will not track down and disarm Palestinian militants.

Source: Agencies

Questions?Comments? Click here

Arafat, Qurei mulls PNA cabinet's final makeup

Arafat approves to form emergency cabinet

Israel says it will strike at enemies wherever they are

Russia will honor pipeline deal with China: PM ( 7 Messages)

Shooting at Chinese fishing boat "a severe incident" ( 6 Messages)

American educational organizations win copyright lawsuit ( 3 Messages)

Suspects detained in Zhuhai massive sex scandal ( 4 Messages)

Marchers worldwide demand Iraq pullout ( 4 Messages)