Arafat's favorite demands US action

An Israeli soldier stops a Palestinian woman and her child after the checkpoint in the West Bank town of Qalqilia was closed on Sunday. PHOTO: AFP

Palestinian parliament speaker Ahmed Qureia, tapped as the new prime minister, said yesterday he will only accept the job if Washing-ton guarantees Israeli compliance with a US-backed peace plan, including a halt to military strikes.

Qureia said that he does not want to set himself up for failure, an apparent reference to outgoing Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, who resigned over the weekend after just four months in office that were marred by wrangling with Palestinian President Yasser Arafat.

However, sources close to Qureia said he has agreed in principle to take the job, and that his formal acceptance is expected in coming days. Qureia met with US, Russian and Egyptian diplomats yesterday, discussing his requests and the possible composition of a new government.

Abbas ruled out joining a new Cabinet.

"I don't want to take part in any government. That's why I re-signed," he said, adding that his successor will need strong international support.

Abbas, who fought with Arafat over control of security forces, has said the US did not push hard enough to ensure Israeli compliance with the "road map" peace plan.

The ruling Fatah party wants the new government to be formed soon to prevent a vacuum in which Israel might take action against Arafat, Palestinian officials said. In response to Abbas' resignation, several Israeli Cabinet ministers have renewed demands to expel Arafat.

It remains unclear if Israel will agree to deal with Qureia.

Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom told US Secretary of State Colin Powell in a phone call that the appointment of Qureia will not bring progress on the peace plan, as long as Arafat pulls the strings, Israel Radio said.

Israeli officials have said privately they would have liked to see widely respected Palestinian Finance Minister Salam Fayad in the job of prime minister.

Shalom declined comment on Qureia's nomination, but said Israel would hold a "strategic discussion" in coming days regarding Arafat.

Cabinet ministers will be asked to consider several options, including expelling Arafat, maintaining the current situation or completely isolating Arafat at his West Bank head-quarters by preventing him from receiving visitors or making phone calls, a security official said.

The Israeli Cabinet has considered Arafat's possible expulsion in the past, but has decided against it, both because of US opposition and because the government's security advisers warned that sending Ara-fat abroad would cause more harm than keeping him confined to his headquarters.

Speaking on NBC television's Meet the Press, Powell said sending Arafat into exile was not a good idea because it would "put him on the world stage as opposed to the stage he is currently occupying."

Qureia, a moderate who helped cobble together the 1993 Oslo accord between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization, said yesterday that he wants to improve the lives of Palestinians who have largely been confined to their communities by a network of Israeli military barriers during the past three years of fighting.

"I want to see what kind of change on the ground the Israelis will make, what kind of support from the United States in this regard [I will get]," he said.

Qureia also said Israel must change its approach to Arafat.

"I want to see that the Israelis will change the way of dealing with Yasser Arafat, the elected president, because I cannot go without his support," he said.

He said he wants real support from the international community, "practical, not by words."

Israeli helicopters, meanwhile, launched a missile strike on a Gaza Strip house that the army said was being used by the militant group Hamas to store weapons, wounding 11 people, including three children, hospital officials said. The army said it was targeting explosives and firearms stored there.

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