Feud Erupts Anew Between Arafat and His Premier

AMALLAH, West Bank, Oct. 9 — The Palestinian leadership was plunged into a fresh crisis on Thursday when Ahmed Qurei, the new prime minister, sworn in at the head of an emergency cabinet only five days ago, clashed angrily with Yasir Arafat over control of Palestinian security forces.

The clash prompted threats by Mr. Qurei to resign, and led to the cancellation of a Palestinian Legislative Council session that was to have given a vote of confidence in Mr. Qurei and the new eight-member cabinet appointed by Mr. Arafat on Sunday.

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When Mr. Arafat named Mr. Abbas this spring as the Palestinians' first prime minister, in response to American demands that Mr. Arafat be sidelined, the hope was that Mr. Abbas would have the leeway to crack down on Islamic militant groups like Hamas and Islamic Jihad, both of which have dispatched more than 100 suicide bombers against Israeli targets since September 2000.

But Mr. Arafat clung to control of the security forces, the summer truce broke down and Mr. Abbas quit in anger, telling associates he lacked any real power.

On Thursday, the issue erupted anew with Mr. Abbas's replacement.

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How will you guys blame this on Israel this time?

seems to be getting a little cantankerous. How many prime ministers is this? And you know what they say about employee turnover.