Key Palestinian minister refuses oath

RAMALLAH, West Bank -- The new Palestinian Cabinet ran into its first hitch Tuesday while being sworn in, when the man slated to oversee security refused to take the oath in what officials called a turf struggle with Yasser Arafat.

The outcome of the dispute over control of security forces is critical to the future of the U.S.-backed "road map" peace plan, which calls for Palestinian statehood by 2005 while demanding that the Palestinians dismantle violent groups. The road map was accepted in principle by both sides, but has been mired in disputes over how to carry it out.

Reflecting increasing tension, the Israeli military announced late Tuesday it was extending the closure of the West Bank and Gaza, banning Palestinians from Israel, and cordoning off Palestinian towns. The closure was imposed before the Jewish New Year two weeks ago. Normally such closures are lifted after Jewish holidays.

The military said the closure is among measures to keep Palestinian attackers out of the country. Security was intensified after a weekend suicide bombing in the Israeli city of Haifa in which 19 people were killed. Also, Israeli military sources said orders for mobilizing reserve soldiers are being drawn up because of an increase of terror threats.

Arafat appointed Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia and the other Cabinet members by decree Sunday, circumventing the legislature in an apparent bid to block Israeli action against the Palestinian leader in response to a deadly suicide bombing.

Qureia has been mired in political wrangling over Cabinet posts. The United States wants Israel to give Qureia a chance to end three years of violence, as he promises to try to do, and Israel's threatened expulsion of Arafat would leave him with little choice but to step aside.

Israel and the United States have made clear Qureia will be judged on his success in ending terror attacks. But Nasser Yousef, the man who as interior minister-designate was to have overseen the effort, refused to take the oath, though he was present at Arafat's offices Tuesday.

Arafat and Yousef have clashed in recent weeks over who would run the disparate Palestinian security forces. Palestinian officials have said Arafat continues to insist on overall control, but Yousef would not comment Tuesday.

Israel says that unless the Palestinians disarm and dismantle the militant groups -- as required by the road map -- it will not carry out its obligations, such as freezing Jewish settlement building.

Israel and the United States blame Arafat for the Palestinian refusal to carry out a crackdown, and they want authority over Palestinian security wrested away from him. They also accuse Arafat of encouraging attacks and sometimes supplying militants with funds. Palestinians deny the charges.

Qureia has called for ending the "chaos of weapons" in the Palestinian areas, but in an Associated Press interview Monday, he rejected the idea of a forcible crackdown. "We will not confront, we will not go for a civil war," he said. "It's not in the interest of our people, and it's not in the interest of the peace process."

In Beirut, the militant Hamas and Islamic Jihad groups, responsible for most of the 103 suicide bombings against Israelis in the past three years, rejected Qureia's government in a joint statement as a "strange and surprising move" aimed against them.

Arafat declared a state of emergency and appointed Qureia's Cabinet by decree Sunday, a day after an Islamic Jihad suicide bomber blew herself up in a restaurant in the Israeli port city of Haifa, killing 19 people, including several children.