Qureia tipped for Palestinian PM
Following the apparent resignation of Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, Yasser Arafat has lined up his parliamentary speaker as the next head of government, according to reports.
Reformist PM Abbas left office on Saturday after a make or break showdown with Mr Arafat over the pivotal issue of who controls the security forces in the Gaza Strip.
Part of the “road map” for peace in the Middle East is the Palestinians’ willingness to crack down and dismantle militant groups such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
The “road map” sets out the conditions for the establishment of a Palestinian state in 2005.
There are suggestions the resignation is a last ditch political play aimed at defeating Mt Arafat who has refused to hand over power, a move, he believes, which would precipitate all out civil war.
But Mr Abbas said his resignation was “final.” He has been in the job four months.
The Palestinian parliamentary speaker, Ahmed Qureia, is believed to be a moderate.
US Secretary of State Colin Powell said the new Palestinian PM must have clear control over security forces.
Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom called on Sunday for the immediate expulsion of Mr Arafat from the Palestinian territories.
“As long as Arafat is in the region, he won’t let any other leader develop,” Mr Shalom said.
Israel has said it would not accept “control over the Palestinian Authority [reverting] back to Yasser Arafat or one of his loyalists.”
On Saturday, EU foreign ministers meeting at Riva del Garda, the northern lakeside town in Italy, unanimously backed plans to blacklist Hamas as a “terrorist organisation.”
Meanwhile, in the Gaza Strip, Israeli helicopters fired two missiles at the home of Abdel Salam Abu Musa, a Hamas militant, wounding at least 11 people, witnesses reported.
Israeli PM Ariel Sharon said Hamas chiefs were now “marked for death.”
