Palestinian negotiations minister Mr Saeb Erakat said this morning he has handed in his resignation to Prime Minister Mr Mahmud Abbas.
Mr Erakat refused to give any explanation for the move, which came a day before a planned meeting between Mr Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
While interior security minister Mr Mohammad Dahlan and parliamentary speaker Mr Ahmad Qorei were invited to join Mr Abbas in his talks with Israel's Mr Sharon, Mr Erakat was not.
According to a senior Palestinian official who asked to remain anonymous, Mr Erakat may have resigned to express his displeasure at his exclusion from the talks.
Before he was handed the newly created negotiations portfolio in the Abbas government sworn in last month, Mr Erakat was minister of local government.
He previously led Palestinian teams in talks with Israel before the September 2000 outbreak of the uprising and was considered closer to Palestinian leader Mr Yasser Arafat than to Mr Abbas.
But the 48-year-old east Jerusalem-born Mr Erakat has often been at odds with the stalwarts of the Palestinian leadership and is a rare voice condemning corruption in the Palestinian Authority (PA).
The US-educated Mr Erakat has been a deputy for the West Bank town of Jericho since 1996 and one of the most prominent figures in the PA since the start of the intifada against Israeli occupation.
AFP