Arafat Puts His Foot Down on Cabinet Picks

Incoming Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas faced a round of behind-the-scenes wrangling Monday over the formation of his Cabinet after adversaries balked at his plan to remove several key ministers loyal to Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat.

The standoff could push back the long-awaited publication of a U.S.-backed peace plan for the Middle East and is likely to test Abbas’ mettle even before he assumes power.

Arafat has come under international pressure to share power with the more moderate Abbas to bolster credibility in the Palestinian Authority and, in turn, energize any potential peace negotiations. Supporters also hope Abbas’ appointment will help Arafat’s Fatah party break loose from a corruption-plagued past.

Once the Cabinet is formed, President Bush has promised to release details of the so-called Middle East road map -- an international peace initiative that calls for a Palestinian state by 2005.

But the process ran into trouble Sunday night when Abbas presented a list of new ministers to the central committee of the Fatah party, which he helped found with Arafat, party sources said.

At the heart of the disagreement was a move by Abbas to kick out Arafat ally Hani Hassan, now serving as interior minister, and replace him with Mohammed Dahlan, a former Gaza Strip security chief with strong diplomatic ties. The Interior Ministry is a particularly sensitive portfolio because it oversees Palestinian security agencies.

Analysts say a new push for peace will depend partly on Abbas’ success in reining in Palestinian security forces, including militant offshoots responsible for dozens of suicide bombings since the Palestinian uprising began nearly 31 months ago.

For their part, Palestinians want to see an end to deadly Israeli incursions into the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Politicians close to the infighting said Arafat and leading members of Fatah had rejected the plan to oust Hassan, prompting Abbas to name himself interim interior minister.

Under the new plan, although it is not final, Dahlan eventually would take on the portfolio of state minister of interior affairs.

Ahmed Korei, speaker of the Palestinian parliament, confirmed Monday that the government’s makeup was “still under discussion” and that he expected Abbas to take several days before presenting a lineup of ministers to the parliament for a vote of confidence.

The weekend flare-up was the most recent reminder of the daunting task facing Abbas as he strives to initiate the kind of widespread reforms that would lend plurality and credibility to the Palestinian Authority while maintaining control over more radical factions.

“It’s a difficult task. His government is still not independent of the reach of Arafat, and the Palestinian movement is fractionalized,” said Gabriel Ben-Dor, director of the National Security Studies Center at Haifa University.

Arafat reportedly had signed off on just five new postings, which will be added to the roster of ministers that already exists. But Abbas’ initial plan retained only two Arafat appointees in their current positions.

Among the more high-profile Arafat stalwarts who stand to lose out are Local Government Minister Saeb Erekat and Culture and Information Minister Yasser Abed-Rabbo.

In another bold move, party sources said, Abbas named Nabil Amr, a member of the Palestinian parliament, to replace Abed-Rabbo. Amr openly called meetings to build a backup government while Israeli security forces bombarded Arafat’s headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah last year, and his efforts earned him a reputation among some Fatah leaders as a turncoat.

Abbas’ list also included Nasser Yusuf, who has clashed with Arafat, as deputy prime minister.

Fatah’s central committee does not have a formal say over Abbas’ appointments, but without the party’s support, his wide-ranging reforms are likely to fall flat.

While ministerial skirmishes continue behind closed doors, Palestinians in the streets appear divided over whether Abbas can form a government they could trust.

Of 1,315 Palestinians who participated in a poll last week by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, 43% said Abbas’ government would win their confidence and 43% said it would not.

About 70%, however, said they believed a government headed by Abbas would be able to renew negotiations with Israel.

According to media reports, the international peace initiative includes three phases and calls for an end to Palestinian attacks on Israelis and a withdrawal by Israeli forces from Palestinian territories in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Later phases of negotiations would deal with Jewish settlements and Palestinian refugees.

Known for his pragmatism and simple living -- although not for any charisma -- Abbas has built his power base mostly behind the scenes, and is widely regarded as having played a key role in instigating the 1993 Oslo peace process. Besides helping to found Fatah, he spent years with Arafat in exile.

“There are many Palestinians who respect this double feature -- loyalty to the revolution and a streak of pragmatism, of putting life back on track,” said Ben-Dor, the political analyst. “But Arafat is still the father figure of the Palestinian movement.”

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Times special correspondent Maher Abukhater in Ramallah contributed to this report.