Abbas may resign
The intensely fraught relationship with President Yasser Arafat may prompt the newly elected Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas to resign from office.
Mr Abbas is to address parliament on Thursday to reflect on his first 100 days in office.
He is expected to ask his parliament for extra powers in a bid to hasten the rollout of the US-backed “road map” for peace in the Middle East.
Crucially, he is likely to test the nerve of parliamentarians in a no-confidence vote on his government’s credibility.
Mr Abbas will demand “the principle of one authority, respect for the rule of law, and rejection of illegal weapons,” a spokesman said.
Mr Abbas wants extra powers to organise Palestinian security forces in a bid to crack down on the militancy presently thwarting the peace-process.
But Mr Arafat insists a crackdown on Hamas and other militant groups would provoke all out civil war.
Mr Arafat said on CNN that the road map was dead because of “Israeli military aggression.”
President Bush’s administration prefers to work with Mr Abbas as Mr Arafat is still considered a terrorist.
“Arafat has not been playing a helpful role and if he wanted to play a helpful role, he would be supporting Prime Minister Abbas, not frustrating his efforts,” Secretary of State Colin Powell said in Washington.
Although Palestinian parliament speaker Ahmed Qureia blocked a confidence vote on Wednesday, he may hold a no-confidence vote on September 10 if the sparing partners failed to reach an agreement.
He said plans for a no-confidence vote on Thursday were premature.
Should Mr Abbas leave office, Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom has said his country would refuse to co-operate with an Arafat-controlled government.
On Tuesday, Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz said Mr Arafat should “disappear” from the Palestinian leadership altogether.
Mr Arafat said Israel’s declaration of “all-out-war” on Palestinian militants on Monday had effectively derailed the peace process that prepares the groundwork for the creation of a Palestinian state in 2005.
