Arafat agrees to share power

PALESTINIAN President Yasser Arafat has agreed to appoint a prime minister, yielding to US and European pressure for reform of his Palestinian Authority.

But Arafat, whom President Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon want to sideline after 28 months of conflict, did not say who the prime minister would be, when the appointment would be made and how much power he would give up.

His reform-minded finance minister, Salam Fayyad, appeared to be a likely candidate for the job, a position envisaged by a peace “roadmap” drafted by the so-called quartet of US, European Union, UN and Russian negotiators. Israel signalled Arafat’s decision, an apparent bid to court favour with Washington as it prepared for a possible war on Iraq, would not result in any immediate resumption of talks with the Palestinians on statehood.