MIDDLE EAST: The first Palestinian prime minister, Mr Mahmoud Abbas, is the man most likely to assume overall leadership of the Palestinians once Mr Yasser Arafat's inability to resume his position is accepted by all.
Mr Abbas (69), who is more popularly known as Abu Mazen, is not expected to get the job because he is charismatic or has widely support. He is neither. But he is the only figure in the Palestinian old guard who came to power under Mr Arafat who commands any respect.
The current Prime Minister, Mr Ahmad Korei (66) is heartily disliked but is expected to remain in his post for some time. Rival hopefuls could be reluctant to put themselves forward until the post-Arafat political situation clarifies, but they are already positioning themselves for that day.
Mr Abbas was born in the town of Safed in 1935 and became a refugee in 1948. He studied to be a teacher in Damascus and took a doctorate in political science from Moscow where his thesis was on relations between the Zionist movement and the Nazis.
Mr Abbas was one of the co-founders of the Palestinian national liberation movement, Fateh, and during their formative years in exile in Kuwait was Mr Arafat's closest confidant.
In 1968 Mr Abbas became the PLO's banker, responsible for investing the movement's funds. He set up Palestinian industries and commercial firms in Lebanon in the 1960s and 1970s, building the Palestinian state-within-a-state which was demolished by Israel during its 1982 invasion of that country.
One of the few in the Palestinian leadership to study Israeli history and politics, Mr Abbas favoured dialogue over armed struggle.
He was the godfather of the peace deal struck with Israel at Oslo. Mr Korei rose to prominance as his negotiator.
Mr Abbas opposed the second Intifada, or uprising, against Israeli occupation and called on armed Palestinian factions to halt attacks on Israel.
In March 2003 Mr Arafat reluctantly appointed Mr Abbas prime minister. But the president would not place the Palestinian security apparatus under his control, and Israel undermined him by refusing to lift the siege of Palestinian towns and villages, release prisoners and halt assassinations of Palestinian personalities. Mr Abbas resigned four months later.
The only other Fateh founding figure still on the scene is Farouk Kaddoumi (a.k.a. Abu Lutf), head of the PLO's political bureau, who, according to Mr Arafat's wife, Suha, was named as his successor in his will. But Mr Kaddoumi rejected the 1993 Oslo Accord and remained in exile. He is not considered a practical possibility.
After Mr Arafat returned to Gaza and the West Bank in 1994, the Palestinian national leader must reside at home. Mr Kaddoumi could be given the task of rallying the refugees in the camps in Lebanon, Syria and Jordan to support the leadership.
As deputy head of the PLO and of Fateh, Mr Abbas has already assumed the chairmanship of these bodies, while Mr Korei continues as chief minister, chairs meetings of the National Security Council and negotiates with armed resistance groups in Gaza.
Even if the two men work well in tandem and Palestinian factions remain united behind them, Mr Abbas and Mr Korei will not be able to make more concessions to Israel than Mr Arafat granted.
They insist on Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem, which should become the capital of a Palestinian state.
