Ramallah (West Bank), Sept 04: Palestinian officials struggled to ease tension between Yasser Arafat and his Prime Minister, Mahmoud Abbas, while Israel and the United States cautioned against any move to oust Abbas. Meanwhile an Israeli man was killed in an exchange of gunfire with Palestinians in the West Bank city of Jenin early today, Israel radio reported. Israeli security officials would not provide details on the incident.
No Palestinians were injured in the Jenin clash, Palestinian security officials said, but Palestinian hospital officials reported that Abu Ali Isleen, 22, shot by Israeli forces in the West Bank city of Nablus during a stone throwing incident on August 28, died yesterday of his wounds in a Ramallah hospital. Abbas, the Palestinian Prime Minister, was set to address Parliament today to sum up his first 100 days in office, a period marked by somewhat reduced violence but also disappointment over a lack of movement in implementing the US-backed "road map" peace plan.
Saying the legislature shouldn't be dragged into the power struggle between Abbas and Arafat, Parliament speaker Ahmad Qureia yesterday temporarily blocked a confidence vote that Abbas had sought to call following his address. If a vote is held in the coming days, the US-backed Abbas could be toppled, dealing a heavy blow to efforts to end three years of violence and move toward Palestinian statehood. The Prime Minister has minimal support among Palestinians, many of whom say they distrust him because he has Israel's backing.
Bureau Report