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Palestinians in crisis over new cabinet
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-02-22 09:10
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was deep in political crisis on Tuesday
over the inclusion of members of Yasser Arafat's corruption-tainted "old guard"
in a new cabinet up for approval by a reform-minded legislature.
Lawmakers from Abbas's Fatah faction threatened to vote no-confidence in the
government, a move that would force Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie from office,
unless changes were made in the cabinet line-up before parliament met later in
the day.
Abbas and pro-reform legislators have been trying to persuade Qurie to drop
some Arafat loyalists widely seen by Palestinians as corrupt and include more
new faces in the government, especially technocrats who can help it run
smoother.
Released female Palestinian prisoner Ameera Abu Thraa (L) is
kissed by her mother in the West bank city of Nablus, February 21, 2005.
Israel freed 500 Palestinian prisoners in the largest mass release in
nearly a decade, a gesture meant to bolster a ceasefire deal with new
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.[Reuters]
| "Fatah members of the legislature will meet before parliament convenes. If
they don't receive (the changes), they will proceed with voting no-confidence in
Abu Ala (Qurie)," a legislator from the faction told Reuters.
Negotiations Affairs Minister Saeb Erekat described the situation as
difficult but said: "That is what democracy is all about."
Abbas, who would be under no obligation to leave office if Qurie does, is
under pressure from the United States and other international donors to revamp
often competing security forces and fight corruption.
"I hope he will seize the moment," US President Bush said in a speech in
Brussels on Tuesday during a fence-mending visit to Europe.
Many foreign ministers are gathering in London on March 1 to help draw up a
financial assistance plan for the Palestinians as momentum toward a possible
Middle East peace settlement advances following Arafat's death in November.
"Reform is part of Abbas's program and we are committed to this policy,"
Nabil Abu Rdainah, a Palestinian Authority spokesman, said of Bush's remarks.
PRISONER RELEASE
Prospects for peacemaking have brightened since Abbas succeeded Arafat on a
platform of non-violence and persuaded militants to abide by a de facto truce.
In a goodwill gesture to Abbas, Israel freed 500 Palestinian prisoners on
Monday in the largest release for nearly a decade.
But the mood of celebration was tempered by Palestinian demands for even
larger prisoner releases to help Abbas get armed groups to formalize the
ceasefire he reached with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon at a summit
in Egypt on Feb. 8.
Israel still holds about 8,000 prisoners and says it will free 400 after a
joint committee with the Palestinians finalizes a roster.
Abbas vowed to make winning freedom for all jailed Palestinians the "top of
our priorities," but Israel has refused to release prisoners "with blood on
their hands."
The detainees were freed a day after Sharon's cabinet approved a pullout from
the Gaza Strip, the first time Israel has decided to dismantle settlements on
land Palestinians want for a state.
Palestinians welcomed the Gaza withdrawal, slated to begin on July 20, but
were angry at Israel's simultaneous decision to endorse a route for a barrier
looping deep into the West Bank to take in major settlement blocs near
Jerusalem.
Israel says the barrier stops suicide bombers. Palestinians call it an
attempt to grab land they want for a state.
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