05 November 2004	Friday	21 Ramazan 1425

RAMALLAH, Nov 4: The following describes how Yasser Arafat would be replaced if he dies. * Arafat is head of the Palestinian Authority, the Palestinian governing body in the West Bank and Gaza , the broader Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) which is responsible for peace talks with Israel, and the mainstream Palestinian nationalist movement Fatah.

* If he dies, the speaker of parliament would oversee a caretaker Palestinian Authority for 60 days, by which point presidential elections should be held. The current speaker is Rawhi Fattouh.

* Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei would be expected to run the day-to-day affairs of the Authority.

* Former prime minister Mahmoud Abbas has been running the PLO, where he is Arafat's number two, in the Palestinian leader's absence and would continue in that provisional capacity, pending an internal election.

* Abbas has also taken provisional charge of Fatah's central committee. Elections to the key executive body were last held in 1989 and a fresh vote has been repeatedly put off. -Reuters