Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas reached an agreement Monday evening to end the recent tensions between them.
The two met in Arafat's Ramallah headquarters, days before Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman is due in the West Bank city as part of the attempts to end the dispute. The two have not spoken for a week after Abbas resigned from the Fatah Central Committee, following criticism from Arafat and his associates over the way in which he was handling negotiations with Israel, in particular the issue of prisoner releases.
"The prime minister wants to reiterate that Arafat is still the president even if there are internal disputes," an official at Abbas' office said by telephone as the two leaders began talks. "The prime minister would never abandon Arafat," the official added.
Arafat has also accused Abbas' security affairs minister, Mohammed Dahlan, of taking over the Palestinian Interior Ministry, which has control of the security services, and has called for his powers to be limited. (Albawaba.com)
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
