Cabinet deal puts peace plan on track
Palestinian Parliament Speaker Ahmed Qureia said he was informed by Mr Abbas and Mr Arafat that the new Cabinet was formed, just hours before a midnight deadline, and the list of ministers is ready for presentation to the parliament.
“We were asked to call for a special session of the Palestinian legislature to vote confidence in the new government,” Mr Qureia said. “I will call for a session ... within a week.”
The agreement was essential for keeping alive a US-backed peace plan for full Palestinian statehood within three years.
US President George W Bush has said he will present that plan only after an empowered Palestinian prime minister is installed.
At the White House, press secretary Ari Fleischer said he had not seen reports of the stand-off ending but said the administration would welcome formal notification.
Earlier yesterday, Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman pressed Abbas and Arafat to end their stand-off.
Mr Suleiman presented a compromise proposal to Mr Arafat in an hour-long meeting at the Palestinian leader’s West Bank headquarters, an official close to the talks said.
Mr Suleiman then visited Abbas’ nearby home and went back to see Mr Arafat again. Mr Suleiman then accompanied Abbas on a visit to Mr Arafat’s headquarters.
That team included Mohammed Dahlan, a former Gaza security chief tipped by Abbas for a key security post.
The outlines of the Egyptian-brokered deal were not immediately known.
Palestinian regulations set a midnight deadline for an agreement last night.
The Cabinet list was to be announced later last night. It still requires approval of the 88-member parliament.
By law, Mr Abbas has the sole authority to form the Cabinet, but in practice needs Mr Arafat’s blessing.
The Cabinet requires the approval of parliament, where the ruling Fatah party, which sided with Arafat in this showdown, commands a solid majority.
It remained unclear whether Mr Abbas’ Cabinet would win approval.
Mr Abbas has lost valuable support in Fatah by appointing several politicians tainted by corruption to his Cabinet and by not bringing in new faces.
International mediators have been watching the stand-off closely and exerted intense pressure on Mr Arafat.
In the night from Tuesday to yesterday, Mr Arafat received phone calls from Arab League secretary-general Amr Moussa, Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, Qatari foreign minister Sheik Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabor Al Thani and Greek foreign minister George Papandreou, a senior Palestinian official said.
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