Yasser Arafat faces off against prime minister-designate

RAMALLAH, West Bank -- Yasser Arafat defied international pressure Tuesday by challenging his prime minister-designate over Cabinet appointments even at the risk of scuttling a U.S.-backed plan for Palestinian statehood.

At the root of the turmoil is Arafat's refusal to share power with Mahmoud Abbas after decades of unchallenged leadership, Palestinian legislators and commentators said.

Abbas, who enjoys the support of international Mideast mediators, has until Wednesday to present his Cabinet to Arafat. Without Arafat's blessing, Abbas is not likely to win approval for the Cabinet in parliament, where the ruling Fatah party is siding with Arafat in the current crisis.

President Bush has said he will unveil an international peace plan, the so-called "road map" to full Palestinian statehood, only once Abbas and his Cabinet are sworn in.

A senior Palestinian official close to Arafat, speaking on condition of anonymity, held out little hope for a breakthrough and said he expects Abbas to step aside. Arafat is already considering Parliament Speaker Ahmed Qureia as a possible replacement for Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, the official said.

The duel was being closely watched by world leaders.

Arab, European and U.S. officials also have called Arafat in recent days.

Abbas' resignation could scuttle international mediation efforts on the road map plan. It was not clear whether an alternate prime minister, even the pragmatic and moderate Qureia, would be accepted by the United States and Israel.

Arafat consulted with Cabinet ministers and senior Fatah members at his West Bank headquarters Tuesday. The meeting was stormy, with yelling heard in the background as a reporter spoke to a participant by phone.

Some of the officials then met separately with Abbas, but failed to broker a compromise. Arafat and Abbas have not spoken since Saturday.

A key disagreement is over Mohammed Dahlan, a former Gaza security chief whom Abbas wants to name to a key security position.

Arafat does not want the independent-minded Dahlan in the Cabinet, and prefers a confidant, Hani al-Hassan, as security chief. Many Fatah officials also oppose Dahlan, saying he is corrupt and inexperienced.

Dahlan has said he is confident he can lead a crackdown on Palestinian militias, and enjoys Israeli and U.S. support. Al-Hassan has not confronted militant groups since being named interior minister last year and has been unable to persuade them to halt attacks on Israel.

In Washington, the State Department said the dispute was delaying the Palestinians' march to statehood. It came down on Abbas' side on the security chief dispute.

"There is strong international interest in seeing an empowered prime minister with his choice of Cabinet so that we can get on with the work that benefits the Palestinian people," department spokesman Richard Boucher said. "And any delay, any obstruction to the process, is really just hurting the Palestinian people and keeping them from achieving their aspirations."

Beyond the dispute over the security chief is a broader struggle over how much authority Arafat -- for decades the sole leader of the Palestinians -- is willing to relinquish.

"Arafat likes to see followers, not partners," said Abdel Sattar Qassam, a political science professor once jailed for dissent. "Arafat doesn't like anybody to share power with him."

Cabinet minister Saeb Erekat attributed the wrangling to "labor pains of the transition to a new era" of greater democracy.

But "we must look at the bigger picture for the interests of the Palestinian people and enable Abu Mazen and President Arafat to succeed in presenting the government by tomorrow."

Russia's special envoy, Andrei Vdovin, who arrived in the region Tuesday, said the Palestinians "have two options: either to start the project of bridging the gaps in order to form a new Palestinian Cabinet, headed by Abu Mazen ... or the situation will deteriorate as we have witnessed during the last two years."