NAME: Ahmed Qurie

AGE: 65

NATIONALITY: Palestinian

CLAIM TO FAME: Prime Minister-designate of Palestine

PALESTINIAN parliamentary speaker Ahmed Qurie, also known as Abu Ala, ended days of political crisis and uncertainty, in Palestine when he accepted President Yasser Arafat’s offer to become the prime minister. The crisis had been the result of former Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas’ resignation after a power struggle with Arafat over control of the security forces.

The former Speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council, Ahmed Qurie has been an active participant in all the Palestinian-Israeli negotiations that took place in Taba, Cairo and Wye River and that led to the first Palestinian-Israeli peace agreement known as the Oslo Agreement in 1993. Seen as a moderate, Qurie is thought to have strong support in the parliament but not among ordinary Palestinians. He has been actively trying to sort out a peace plan after Israeli officials refused to deal with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. Mr Qurie also spent many months trying to defuse the crisis provoked by the Israeli siege of Mr Arafat’s compound.

Qurie’s involvement in Palestinian politics goes back to 1968, when he joined the ranks of Fatah, the PLO’s largest political group headed by President Yasser Arafat. In 1996, Qurie received the highest votes in the Jerusalem district in the general elections for the Palestinian Legislative Council. Qurie was then voted by lawmakers as Speaker. Before the Palestinian elections, Qurie was Minister of Economy and Trade, and the Minister of Industry in the Palestinian Authority. He is also a member of many PLO bodies.

Born in the village of Abu Dis in Jerusalem in 1937, Qurie was the recipient of the 1999 Gleitsman Foundation’s International Activist Award, the Norwegian Royal Order Merit in 1994, and the Seeds of Peace Foundation Award in 1996. This politician is also the author of a book entitled Hanging Peace and has published many economic studies.

Qurie had initially conditioned his acceptance of the post on US and European guarantees of support and Israel’s commitment to ease a military crackdown. He disclosed in an interview that he waived the conditions and accepted the job “because of the dangers that are threatening us.” Still, he hoped that the international community would go through with his demands.

The West, for its part, is adopting a wait-and-watch policy to the new developments taking place in this ever-volatile corner of the world. But there are clearly concerns that Qurie, as Arafat’s nominee, would be subservient to the president. Arafat, being the only democratically elected Palestinian leader, has by far the largest support among Palestinians and any prime minister depends on him for legitimacy. At least in some cases, what Yasser Arafat wants is what Yasser Arafat gets.