MIDDLE EAST: Palestinian Prime Minister Mr Ahmed Qurie said yesterday he would stay on for now in his post, just three days after he tendered his resignation. However, his dispute with Yasser Arafat over the Palestinian leader's refusal to accept reforms that would afford more security control to the cabinet remained unresolved.
Two Israeli soldiers and a Hizbullah gunman, meanwhile, were killed yesterday afternoon in clashes on Israel's border with Lebanon, raising fears of escalating violence in the area where a tense quiet has prevailed, occasionally punctured by cross-border hostilities, since Israel withdrew from south Lebanon in mid-2000.
Sources at a crisis cabinet meeting in Ramallah said that Mr Qurie. who said he was quitting in the wake of major pro-reform protests in Gaza over the weekend, had not formally withdrawn his resignation. Many Palestinians, along with members of militant groups who have led the protests, support reforms of Palestinian Authority institutions, which they say are beset by corruption and cronyism.
Mr Qurie understands that without control over the multiple arms of the Palestinian security apparatus, his government will be ineffective. But Mr Arafat, facing an unprecedented challenge to his leadership and under international pressure to relinquish some of his powers, is reluctant to cede any control of his security forces.
International mediators have made reforms a condition for progress in the "road map" plan for Mideast peace. "President Arafat insists on rejecting the resignation. Abu Ala (Qurie) insists on resigning. The crisis goes on," said Palestinian Minister Mr Saeb Erekat. Mr Qurie reportedly left the cabinet meeting through a back door and refused to take reporters' questions.
International leaders kept up the pressure on Mr Arafat to carry out reforms. UN Secretary General Mr Kofi Annan warned of a growing crisis in Gaza and called on the Palestinian leader to agree to restructure his security forces in order to re-establish control in the Strip. In a show of support for Mr Qurie the UN chief called on Mr Arafat to "take time to listen" to his Prime Minister.
The two Israeli soldiers were killed when Hizbullah gunmen fired at them as they were fixing an antenna in their outpost on the border. Immediately after the attack, Israeli helicopters and tanks attacked Hizbullah positions in south Lebanon, killing one member of the Shia group. Israeli warplanes also flew low over Beirut, breaking the sound barrier and rattling windows in what officials said was a message to the Lebanese government and Hizbullah.
The hostilities followed the killing on Monday of a senior member of the militant group in southern Beirut. Hizbullah leaders blamed Israel for the death of Ghalib Awali (40), who was killed by a bomb. Awali was said to have been involved in support for the Palestinian uprising in the territories. "He is a saint of Jerusalem, of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, in the struggle against the Zionist project," said Hizbullah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah at Awali's funeral.
Israel denied any involvement in the killing, but placed its army on high alert along the northern border for fear of an attack by Hizbullah, which operates with Iranian and Syrian backing.
The commander of Israeli forces in the north, Maj Gen Benny Gantz, warned yesterday after the killing of the two soldiers that the day was not "far away" when Israel would "act widely, severely".
"I don't believe Hizbullah will be the only address at that time. I think this is a matter of state responsibility, and these two countries (Syria and Iran) that host and direct financing and training Hizbullah organization will end up paying its price," he added.