Arafat bid to hand over control sparks power struggle

PALESTINIAN leaders were yesterday locked in a power struggle triggered by Yasser Arafat's attempt to hand control over all the security forces to a loyalist in the apparent hope of sidelining the US-backed Palestinian security chief, officials said.

The current security chief, Mohammed Dahlan, is supported by Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, whom Arafat has repeatedly tried to undermine since appointing him in April under US pressure.

International mediators now want Arafat to relinquish control of the security forces and allow Abbas and Dahlan to clamp down on militants, in response to a Hamas bus bombing that killed 21 people in Jerusalem last week.