Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei submitted his resignation Saturday to Yasser Arafat, but the latter rejected it, a top official said.
The resignation came as Qurei and Arafat discussed a shake-up of security forces due to the deteriorating security situation in the Gaza Strip. Six people, including the national police chief, were briefly kidnapped in the Strip on Friday.
Saeb Erakat, a Palestinian Cabinet minister, said Qurei told members of the legislative council that he submitted his resignation to Arafat, but that the Palestinian president declined to accept it.
Qurei's resignation followed the announcement that Arafat was replacing his national security chief and his national police chief, in addition to consolidating the Palestinian Authority's security forces into three services.
"This is a true disaster," Qurei said Saturday outside his offices before meeting Arafat. "This is a level of chaos that we have never seen before."
According to The AP, Arafat advisor Nabil Abu Rdeneh said the security forces would be the national police, public security forces and intelligence.
Mousa Arafat replaced Abdel Razek Al-Majaideh as national security chief.
The Palestinian leader also appointed Saeb al-Ajez as the new police chief for the West Bank and Gaza Strip, replacing Jabali who has been widely accused of corruption. The chief of intelligence was not immediately named. (albawaba.com)
© 2004 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
