Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's political advisor Osama al-Baz said he had told Israeli leaders during his visit to Jerusalem to stop demanding an alternative Palestinian leadership to Yasser Arafat.
"I told them they had no right to talk about the Palestinian leadership and to judge whether it is reliable or not, able or not," said al Baz, who conveyed on Friday a message from Mubarak to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
"I told them that if they granted themselves this right, that would allow several Arab states to say that the current Israeli leadership is not serious about peace and that they should wait until it is replaced," he told Egyptian public television. "I think that they (the Israelis) are now convinced that there is no alternative" to Arafat, he continued.
Arafat has been holding talks on overhauling his large cabinet. In the coming days, he is likely to reduce the number of ministers from 32 to 19, and bring in new faces, according to Palestinian political sources, talking to AP.
In an interview to be published in a Greek newspaper on Sunday Arafat said elections would "most probably" be held in 2002, as part of "sweeping" reforms in the Palestinian Authority. "Very soon, there will be elections for president and legislators," Arafat said in the interview with the Athens daily Vradini. "Very soon. Most probably within 2002. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
