RAMALLAH, Nov 4: A power struggle between Yasser Arafat and his prime minister blocked plans to form a new Palestinian government on Tuesday and threatened to delay renewed peace moves between Israel and the Palestinians.

Barring last-minute resolution of the Palestinian political infighting, Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei was expected to miss a deadline of midnight on Tuesday to announce his lineup of ministers to replace his 30-day emergency cabinet.

Arafat extended the term of Mr Qorei’s eight-member cabinet, transforming it into a caretaker government, to allow more time to overcome sharp disagreement on division of security powers.

The delay threatened to hold up renewed high-level talks proposed by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon aimed at restarting a stalled, US-backed “road map” to peace.

Israeli media reports had said earlier that Prime Ministers Sharon and Qorei could meet as early as this weekend, though there is scepticism on both sides about the prospects for significant progress after three years of Israeli-Palestinian bloodshed.

At stake in the power struggle between Mr Arafat and Mr Qorei is who will have control of security services seen as vital for meeting the road map’s requirement for Palestinians to rein in militant attacks on Israel.

Arafat, the 74-year-old symbol of Palestinian nationalism, opposes Mr Qorei’s nomination of General Nasser Yousef as interior minister with control over security forces — authority which the Palestinian president has been reluctant to give up.

Mr Qorei acknowledged the problem on Tuesday after meeting his emergency cabinet but insisted he would be ready to seek parliamentary approval for his new government next week.

“A session for the Palestinian Legislative Council will convene next week for a confidence vote,” Prime Minister Qorei told reporters in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

Arafat aide Nabil Abu Rdainah told Reuters the president had asked Mr Qorei “to continue with his work and to consider the current cabinet as a caretaker until a new cabinet is formed”.

Mr Qorei’s predecessor, Mahmoud Abbas, resigned in September following a similar dispute with Arafat over security powers.

Cabinet member Saeb Erekat, who is close to Arafat, predicted that Mr Qorei’s government would act in a caretaker role for two to three days and no more than a week past the deadline.

Hassan Abu Libdeh, director of Mr Qorei’s office, said earlier that the prime minister wanted his Interior Ministry to have strong security credentials, as his first order of business will be to persuade militants to halt attacks on Israelis.—Reuters