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Arafat asks prime minister to stay on
RAMALLAH, West Bank (CNN) -- Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat and his Fatah movement's central committee voted Tuesday to ask Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei to form a new government. Qorei, who is in office under an emergency degree, agreed to form a permanent Cabinet, but he indicated that a dispute with Arafat over the control of Palestinian Authority security forces remains unsettled. The decree under which Qorei was appointed prime minister expires November 4. Qorei, who attended the meeting of the Palestinian leadership in Ramallah, said he would expand his eight-member emergency Cabinet to a full Cabinet of more than 20 members with what he called "an empowered interior minister" by November 5. In an effort to broker peace in the region, the United States has pressed Arafat and the Palestinian Authority to transfer full control over Palestinian security forces to a Palestinian prime minister. Arafat has resisted so far, continuing to retain control over parts of the Palestinian security apparatus, including its uniformed police. Israel and Washington have called on the Palestinian Authority to use its security apparatus to stop terrorist attacks on Israelis. Qorei's proposed Cabinet would be submitted to the Palestinian Legislative Council, the Palestinian legislature, for a vote of confidence. No names were mentioned for any of the Cabinet posts. On October 10, the Palestinian Legislative Council canceled a vote of confidence when Arafat and Qorei could not agree on an interior minister and his powers. An upset Qorei told reporters after meeting with Arafat that he was undecided about whether he would continue as prime minister. Qorei replaced the Palestinian Authority's first prime minister, Mahmoud Abbas, who resigned in September. Abbas, who said he would not serve as a figurehead, was at odds with Arafat during the four months he was in office over the ability to control portions of the Palestinian security force that Arafat kept under his command. But in his resignation, Abbas blamed "Israel's unwillingness to implement its 'road map' commitments and to undertake any constructive measures" in an effort to reach a peace. The road map peace plan -- backed by the United States, United Nations, European Union and Russia -- calls for steps on both sides aimed at ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and establishing an independent Palestinian state by 2005. Abbas also said the United States and international community "did not exert sufficient influence on Israel to implement its commitments in the road map to push the peace process forward or to end its military escalation."
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