Palestinians Reject Bid for an Arafat Foil

A Palestinian official said Friday that the Palestinian Authority has rejected a U.S. proposal to have its parliament choose a prime minister who could balance the power of its president, Yasser Arafat.

Washington has been seeking to sideline Arafat, whom it accuses of stoking violence that has torpedoed the Mideast peace process, while calling for elections as part of efforts to persuade the Palestinian Authority to undertake sweeping reforms.

But Arafat, who remains popular among Palestinians, would probably be reelected in an open vote.

As an alternative to Arafat, U.S. Secretary of State Colin L. Powell and National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice--in a meeting in Washington with Palestinian officials two weeks ago--proposed that the Palestinian parliament choose a prime minister, said Municipal Affairs Minister Saeb Erekat.

In a report Friday to an international task force in Paris on Palestinian reform, the Palestinian Authority said it would not agree to changes in the electoral system that was used by Palestinians in 1996 to confirm Arafat as leader.

“We told [the United States] that this is not your business,” Erekat said.

A U.S. official contacted Friday refused to confirm the disagreements over the election process.

But Raanan Gissin, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s spokesman, confirmed that the U.S. proposal was rejected.

Sharon has postponed a trip to the United States that had been scheduled for next month, Israeli officials said.

He had been scheduled to visit Florida on Sept. 9, the day before a primary to decide the Democratic gubernatorial candidate.

Some Democrats said Sharon’s presence would give a boost to incumbent Republican Gov. Jeb Bush, President Bush’s brother.

David Douek, a spokesman for the Israeli Consulate in Los Angeles, said Florida politics had nothing to do with the delay. Sharon had also been scheduled to visit California.

The trip was not immediately rescheduled.

Underscoring the fragility of attempts to reduce tensions, Israeli troops Friday killed two Palestinians disguised as Israeli soldiers, who were trying to infiltrate a Jewish settlement.

The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, a militia linked to Arafat’s Fatah movement, claimed responsibility for the failed attack.