Enough, says Abbas

Palestinian PM Mahmoud Abbas submitted his resignation on Saturday in a power struggle with Yasser Arafat and the Palestinian President was ...

Palestinian PM Mahmoud Abbas submitted his resignation on Saturday in a power struggle with Yasser Arafat and the Palestinian President was considering the offer.

The departure of Abbas could spell the end of a US-backed plan for peace with Israel and plunge the region into fresh violence.

It was not clear whether Arafat would accept the resignation of Abbas. Arafat wants to limit Abbas’s powers but also wants to avoid provoking Israel into trying to expel him if he ousts his reformist premier.

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‘‘President Arafat is still studying Abass’s resignation,’’ Palestinian national security adviser Jibril al-Rajoub said. Officials had earlier said Arafat had accepted Abbas’s resignation letter.

The US, which backs Abbas and no longer deals with Arafat, said it did not know whether Abbas had quit or Arafat had accepted. ‘‘We are not certain that this is true and that this is the end of it,’’ a US official said.

Israeli PM Ariel Sharon’s office said in a statement that Israel would not accept control of the Palestinian Authority being returned to Arafat, whom it has sought to sideline.

Abbas, 68, was appointed by Arafat four months ago under international pressure for reforms of the Palestinian Authority and an end to three years of bloodshed.

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But Arafat has tried to limit Abbas’s powers. Their struggle focused on control of the security forces, which is vital to the road map and Palestinian efforts to rein in militants.

The EU said it was concerned by Abbas’s resignation. Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said the bloc was ‘‘deeply worried by the risk of instability at the head of the Palestinian executive’’.

Abbas had told members of Parliament on Thursday to sack him if they would not back him obtain authority from Arafat to carry out democratic reforms and subdue the militant factions hostile to negotiated peace with Israel.

Both steps, along with Israeli withdrawals from occupied territory, are mandated by the road map. A senior Palestinian official said: ‘‘Abbas’s problems (in part stem from) the continuation of Israeli incursions and assassinations. In addition to that the US administration has done little to make Israel comply with the road map.’’

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A Palestinian official said a demonstration against Abbas outside Parliament on Thursday by a militant faction loyal to Arafat had been one factor in Abbass’s decision to quit. — Reuters