MIDDLE EAST: Succumbing to extraordinary international pressure in a high-stakes battle of wills, the Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat yesterday dropped his objections to the cabinet team assembled by his incoming prime minister, Mr Mahmoud Abbas, and thus re-opened the path to a possible resumption of Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations and, ultimately, the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.
Recognizing the possibility that the new government might seriously seek to put an end to suicide bombings and other attacks on Israeli civilians, a Hamas leader in Gaza, Mr Abdel Aziz Rantisi, vowed last night to fight back against the PA if war was declared on those he termed the "jihad warriors". This was, he said, "the era of resistance [to Israel, not the era of negotiations [with Israel]".
Just hours before a legal deadline for the presentation of the cabinet, the PA's feuding veteran leaders agreed what was described - face-saving for Mr Arafat - as a compromise. It was brokered by Mr Omar Suleiman, the head of Egypt's intelligence services, whose hasty despatch to Ramallah by President Hosni Mubarak underlined how deeply outside players were concerned to resolve the crisis.
In contrast to the obdurate, shouting Mr Arafat of recent days, it was smiles and handshakes yesterday afternoon, as the camera crews were invited into the PA president's Israeli-battered Muqata headquarters to record the reconciliation between him and Mr Abbas, who had been refusing to speak to him since Sunday. Mr Arafat, as ever, sat at the head of the table, with Mr Suleiman to his left and Mr Abbas (also known as Abu Mazen) to his right. Three seats further down from the incoming prime minister sat Mr Mohammad Dahlan, whose ministerial appointment had been the focus of the standoff.
Under the "compromise", Mr Dahlan will not hold the title to which Mr Abbas had wanted to appoint him - Minister of the Interior - which the new prime minister will retain himself. But Mr Dahlan will instead become Minister for Security Affairs and will do the job Mr Abbas wants him to do - take charge of the PA's security forces in order to confront Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the extremists loyal to Mr Arafat who have been carrying out attacks. Mr Abbas has described the "armed intifada" as a grievous mistake, and his purported resolve to end it explains why Hamas is worried, why Israel supports his appointment and why the Bush administration has made the publication of the "road map" to Palestinian statehood conditional on his taking office as a prime minister with genuine authority independent of Mr Arafat.
The Palestinian Legislative Assembly is now expected to approve the new cabinet by early next week. Then, American and European leaders will start pressing for Mr Abbas to take on the extremists, Israel to start withdrawing its troops from deep inside the West Bank, and the two sides to get back to the negotiating table.