Palestinian PM-designate forms Cabinet

Palestinian Prime minister-designate Mahmoud Abbas has formed a new Cabinet, ending a stand-off with Yasser Arafat that threatened Mideast peace moves, officials said today.

Palestinian Parliament Speaker Ahmed Qureia said he was informed by Abbas and Arafat that the new Cabinet has been formed, just hours before a midnight deadline, and that the list of ministers is ready for presentation to parliament.

“We were asked to call for a special session of the Palestinian legislature to vote confidence in the new government,” said the speaker, Ahmed Qureia, told The Associated Press. “I will call for a session ... within a week.”

If Abbas had failed to present his cabinet by midnight he would have had to stand down – throwing President George Bush’s “road map” for Mideast peace into jeopardy.