March 20, 2003	Thursday	Muharram 16, 1424

RAMALLAH, March 19: Mahmud Abbas agreed on Wednesday night to accept an offer by Yasser Arafat to become the first Palestinian prime minister, top Arafat aide Nabil Abu Rudeina said.

“Abu Mazen (Abbas’ nom de guerre) accepted the post of Palestinian prime minister, and all the constitutional procedures have been completed,” he said.

“Consequently, we call on the members of the quartet and the American administration to apply as soon as possible the ‘road map’ (on Middle East peace) setting the steps toward creating a Palestinian state by 2005,” he added.

That was a reference to the diplomatic quartet consisting of the United States, Russia, the United Nations and the European Union, which has drafted a blueprint for ending the 29-month-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict and creating a Palestinian state.

Last week, US President George W. Bush promised that the roadmap would be published as soon as Arafat made good on a promise, made under Israeli and US pressure, to appoint a premier with real power. Arafat formally offered the job to Abbas on Wednesday—AFP