12 November 2004	Friday	28 Ramazan 1425

RAMALLAH: Following are brief profiles of Palestinian leaders who could become candidates to replace President Yasser Arafat or take on important roles in the succession.

AHMED QOREI: Prime Minister Qorei, 66, a veteran ally of Arafat, was the key negotiator in secret talks with Israelis in Oslo that led to interim peace deals in 1993. Qorei, also known as Abu Ala, gained a reputation as one of the more skilled Palestinian politicians in his role as speaker of the Palestinian legislature.

MAHMOUD ABBAS: Long Arafat's number two in the Palestine Liberation Organization, Abbas, 69, co-authored interim peace deals a decade ago that gave Palestinians limited self-rule. He served as prime minister for four months in 2003, but resigned after losing a power struggle with Arafat. Abbas has avoided public attention as much as Arafat sought it.

MARWAN BARGHOUTHI: Seen as a possible successor to Arafat in the long term, Barghouthi is serving an Israeli jail sentence for orchestrating murders, a charge he denied. The fiery orator is widely regarded as the grassroots political leader of the uprising begun in 2000 and helped coordinate the first "Intifada" that ended in 1993.

MOHAMMED DAHLAN: Dahlan is a former interior minister and security chief in Gaza without an official post. But he remains perhaps the most powerful of several strongmen in a territory ridden by factional fighting.

He is prominent in a younger pro-reform generation posing a leadership challenge to the old guard around Arafat.

JIBRIL RAJOUB: Rajoub formerly oversaw the Palestinian internal security apparatus in the West Bank and served most recently as Arafat's national security adviser. Rajoub is a fluent Hebrew speaker who had many coordinating contacts with Israeli officials during the peaceful 1994-2000 period of Palestinian self-rule. But his image slipped among Palestinians when he left his headquarters with the apparent acquiescence of besieging Israeli forces in 2002.

RAWHI FATTOUH: The Palestinian parliament speaker would by law become president for a 60-day period if Arafat died. But he does not rank as an important power broker and would probably act as a figurehead while others make key decisions. The 55-year-old Fattouh has been an Arafat loyalist.-Reuters