Quraya tenders resignation to Arafat

Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia handed his resignation to PA Chairman Yasser Arafat in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Saturday afternoon, in the wake of a series of kidnappings of Palestinian security officials and French aid workers, during a meeting to discuss what he described as "an unprecedented state of chaos."

Arafat refused to accept the resignation, PA Minister Saeb Erekat said, and added that Qureia's decision "does not reflect differences" with the PA chairman.

Qureia told his cabinet later Saturday he was firm in his decision to quit "and he will not withdraw" the resignation, said Jamal Shobaki, the minister for local government.

Shobaki said the cabinet will meet again Monday to discuss the political
crisis. Arafat, who is president of the Palestinian Authority, did not attend the cabinet meeting.

"There is a crisis. There is a state of chaos in the security situation," Qureia told reporters as he emerged from the meeting.

Qureia was appointed in September 2003, when the first Palestinian prime minister, Mahmoud Abbas, quit after just four months on the job.

State of emergency in Gaza
The Palestinian National Security Council, headed by Arafat, declared a state of emergency in the Gaza Strip early Saturday, following the spate of abductions.

"This is a true disaster," Qureia said Saturday outside his offices in Ramallah, shortly before meeting with Arafat.

Arafat also agreed Saturday to consolidate his security forces into three branches, a key international demand for reform, a senior aide to the PA chairman announced.

An Egyptian plan specifically called for the streamlining of the services into three branches in Gaza and the West Bank.

Arafat's aide Nabil Abu Rudeineh said the security forces would be the national police, public security forces and intelligence.

The Palestinian leader also fired Gaza police chief Ghazi al-Jabali, one of those abducted Friday in the Strip and later freed, and named two new top officials in a shake-up of his security apparatus.

Moussa Arafat, the PA' chairman's first cousin, who has stood behind him since the early days of the Palestinian national struggle in 1965, replaced Abdel Razzak Al-Majaideh who was considered ineffectual.

The Palestinian leader also appointed Saeb al-Ajez as the new police chief for the West Bank and Gaza, replacing Jabali who has been widely accused of corruption.

The chief of intelligence was not immediately named.

The state of emergency declaration called for increased protection around Palestinian government facilities and cancelled all leave for security officials.

"A state of emergency has been declared in the Gaza Strip as of early this [Saturday] morning to deal with the state of chaos there," a senior Palestinian security official said.

Sources in Jerusalem said Saturday that the events in Gaza prove that there is no Palestinian partner, that the Palestinian government is doing nothing, and that Israel must implement the disengagement plan, which calls for a unilateral withdrawal of troops and settlers from the Gaza Strip by the end of 2005.

Yahad chairman Yossi Beilin was quoted by Army Radio as saying Saturday that the recent event in the Gaza Strip showed that "[PM Ariel] Sharon's policy to destroy the Palestinian Authority's infrastructure was mistaken, since it was replaced by anarchy and gangs."

Beilin called for an immediate renewal of negotiations between Israel and the PA to coordinate the planned withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, and for continued talks in an attempt to reach a permanent agreement.

"The situation is critical and the government needs to prove that it is capable of action," Minister without Portfolio Kadura Fares said ahead of Qureia's resignation Saturday.

"If we cannot fully shoulder our responsibility, then we should open the way for others to do that," Erekat told the Voice of Palestine.

Erekat described the situation in Gaza as "very serious and deteriorating in a dangerous way."

He said the Palestinian Authority "should put an end to the lawlessness and chaos" that exist in the Palestinian areas.

The abductions also reflected a growing challenge to Arafat from militants trying to strengthen their position before Prime Minister Ariel Sharon carries out the disengagement plan.

A Palestinian security official said the preventive security chief in Gaza, Rashid Abu Shbak, and the head of Palestinian general intelligence, Amin Hindi, had submitted their resignations to Arafat "because of the state of chaos and the lack of action by the Palestinian Authority to make reforms."

The announcement came in the early hours of Saturday, shortly after gunmen freed the four French aid workers and a Palestinian colleague, who had been held hostage in the southern town of Khan Yunis.

Hours earlier, Jabali and the director of military coordination in the southern sector of the Strip, Colonel Khaled Abu Aloul, were abducted in separate incidents.

Jabali's release came several hours after his kidnapping; Aloul was freed Saturday morning after being held overnight.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/452493.html