Arafat urged to accept Prime Minister's resignation

THE Palestinian authority plunged deeper into crisis yesterday when parliament called on Yasser Arafat to accept the resignation of his prime minister and militants kidnapped a senior official in the West Bank.

It was the latest in a series of abductions in the Palestinian territories.

Fadel Alshouli, head of tribal affairs department at the Nablus government, was seized by militants and taken to the Balata Refugee Camp outside the city.