The composition of the Cabinet was relatively smooth, though Saeb Erekat, an Arafat stalwart, turned down the portfolio he was offered, as minister of negotiations with Israel, Palestinian officials said.
Qureia, who says he wants as broad a Cabinet as possible, was also rebuffed by a radical PLO faction, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, or PFLP.
On Sunday, Qureia met with the group's leader, Ahmed Saadat, in a West Bank jail, where Saadat is being held under US and British supervision, for his alleged role in the assassination of an Israeli Cabinet minister in October 2001.
Saadat told Qureia his group would not join the Cabinet, officials said. The Palestinian opposition groups, including Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the PFLP, say they want no part of the Palestinian Authority because it is a product of interim peace deals with Israel they oppose.
Israel initially said it would not do business with an Arafat-controlled Cabinet. However, officials have softened their tone in recent days, saying they would judge Qureia by his deeds. Israel insists that the Palestinian Authority begin dismantling Palestinian militant groups.
RSS