February 15, 2003	Saturday	Zul Hijjah 13, 1423

RAMALLAH, Feb 14: Palestinian President leader Yasser Arafat agreed on Friday to share power and appoint a prime minister, in the most tangible sign yet of the reforms the United States and Israel have demanded of his administration.

The announcement came amid a climate of war, as two Palestinians were killed when the Israeli army blew up a smuggling tunnel between the southern Gaza Strip and Egypt, and Israel was fine-tuning its preparations for any spillover from a conflict in Iraq.

“I have decided to appoint a Palestinian prime minister, and I will ask the Palestinian Legislative Council to take the necessary measures to that effect,” Arafat told reporters after a meeting with officials from the so-called quartet of Middle East diplomatic players.

Arafat did not say who might fill the position, but recent reports suggest that Palestine Liberation Organisation number two Mahmud Abbas and finance minister Salam Fayad would be the most likely candidates, with Washington favouring the latter.

The veteran leader, who has spent more than a year isolated by Israeli forces in his battered Ramallah headquarters, did not explicitly impose any conditions on bequeathing power to a premier but urged the quartet to press on with the so-called “roadmap” which calls for the creation of a Palestinian state by 2005.

Recent reports suggest Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is trying to scrap the draft document altogether.

Sharon’s office made no official comment following the declaration but former foreign minister Shimon Peres hailed it as “a step in the right direction.

“What we need now is a partner on the Palestinian side who can control all the armed groups and with whom a negotiation for a final agreement will be engaged,” he said.

Ehud Olmert, the mayor of Jerusalem and a stalwart of Sharon’s right-wing Likud party, reacted more sceptically, warning against hasty enthusiasm and describing Arafat as a “master illusionist”.

Palestinian information minister Yasser Abed Rabbo said the parliament would convene “in the coming days” over the issue but other officials warned that the decision would require MPs to amend the “basic law” which serves as the Palestinian Authority’s constitution and that the process “will take time”.—AFP