Palestinian Cabinet row threatens to delay US peace plan for Mideast

INCOMING Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas set out his list of Cabinet ministers, expecting quick approval to trigger the presentation of a US-backed peace plan, but opposition to some of his choices emerged yesterday.

US President George W Bush said he would present the "road map" plan, starting the clock toward Palestinian statehood in three years, once Mr Abbas takes office. The US and Israel have demanded that veteran Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat move aside before peace talks resume.

But Mr Arafat and several leading members of his Fatah movement object to some of Mr Abbas' appointments.

"There is a very big argument about this Cabinet," said legislator Nabil Amr, a reformer who has been offered the post of information minister. "President Arafat has reservations about some names in this Cabinet."

Mr Abbas is planning a wide-ranging reshuffle of Mr Arafat's Cabinet, moving all but two ministers, demoting several, firing others and bringing in reformers and experts to guide the overblown and corruption-ridden Palestinian regime.

On Sunday night, Fatah's Central Committee postponed at the last minute a session to approve the Abbas Cabinet. The body does not have a formal say over the Cabinet, but Mr Abbas, who is Mr Arafat's deputy in Fatah and the PLO, is considered unlikely to go against the will of his main power base.

Mr Arafat and top Fatah officials dug in over appointing a new interior minister to oversee security forces, insisting on retaining Hani al-Hassan, a close aide. Mr Abbas refused, and decided to keep the ministry for himself while appointing his favoured candidate, former Gaza security chief Mohammed Dahlan, as state minister for interior affairs. That would give Mr Dahlan authority to confront militant groups responsible for attacking Israel, as Israel and the US demand.

Other prominent figures in Mr Arafat's regime faced demotion, including the most visible officials Local Government Minister Saeb Erekat and Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo, frequent Arafat spokesmen, and Trade Minister Maher al-Masri. The three have told Mr Abbas they will not join the Cabinet, officials said.

Nabil Shaath, the powerful planning minister, was slated for a new post, state minister for external affairs.

Mr Abbas was hoping to win Fatah approval and present his Cabinet later in the week but the last-minute manoeuvring threatened another delay.