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Article: Controversy brews over Arafat's potential nominee; Puppet?: Leaders want a powerful prime minister
- Article from:
- Telegraph - Herald (Dubuque)
- Article date:
- March 5, 2003
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2003 Telegraph - Herald (Dubuque). Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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JERUSALEM (AP) - Yasser Arafat is considering a Palestinian
billionaire without political clout as prime minister, but has been
told by his Fatah movement that it will only accept PLO deputy chief
Mahmoud Abbas in the job, officials said Tuesday.
The wrangling is not just over names, but over whether the prime
minister will have real power to set policy. A powerful prime
minister could help restart peace negotiations, satisfying U.S.
demands for a new Palestinian leadership and sidestepping Israel's
boycott of Arafat, whom it brands a terrorist.
Fatah commands a majority in the Palestinian parliament, which
will have final say next week over defining the prime minister's