PALESTINIANS Prime minister resigns in shift of leadership

A series of kidnappings signaled a breakdown of authority.
RAMALLAH, West Bank -- The Palestinian prime minister resigned Saturday in a sweeping leadership shakeup that also saw two senior officials replaced in Yasser Arafat's overhaul of his security forces -- a key U.S. and Israeli demand for restarting the deadlocked peace process.
The changes followed a series of kidnappings in the Gaza Strip that signaled a breakdown of authority.
"There is a crisis. There is a state of chaos in the security situation," Ahmed Qureia said after announcing his resignation as premier during a Cabinet meeting in the West Bank town of Ramallah.
Queria told Palestinian officials he had resigned "because of a series of internal and external issues that developed in the recent period," according to a statement from his office. He specifically cited the deteriorating security situation in Gaza.
Sent letter to Arafat
Qureia sent his resignation letter to Arafat through an aide before the Cabinet meeting. The 74-year-old Palestinian leader, however, refused to accept it and scrawled a giant "X" over the paper with a pen, a Palestinian official said.
Nevertheless, Qureia said he would not withdraw the resignation, according to Minister of Local Government Jamal Shobaki.
The Cabinet planned to reconvene Monday to continue deliberations. It was unclear what would happen if the stalemate continued.
Qureia, who had held the job for 10 months, was unable to carry out deep reforms and root out corruption, with Arafat still holding the presidency and dominant power in the Palestinian territories.
He also had been frustrated by lack of progress on restarting the peace process with Israel, say officials close to him. No Israeli-Palestinian summit was held during Qureia's time as prime minister.
Meeting was hostile
Officials said the Cabinet meeting grew stormy at times. The interior minister, who is in charge of police and apparently was not consulted about the changes in the security infrastructure, walked out midway.
Israel had no comment on the swiftly unfolding events in the Palestinian territories. But Israel Army Radio quoted officials as saying the instability demonstrated again that Israel had no viable negotiating partner and must move forward with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan to unilaterally withdraw the army and settlers from Gaza next year.
The chaotic events also were likely to encourage opponents of Sharon's plan who claim Israel cannot leave a security vacuum in Gaza and must stay.
Although failing to agree on the prime minister's future, Arafat and Qureia met earlier Saturday and approved a series of steps to bring more than a dozen disparate security services under a more unified command.
They consolidated the services into three branches but all will remain under Arafat's control. The specifics of the restructuring were not announced.
A primary demand
A reorganization of the splintered and often feuding security agencies was a primary demand of the United States as part of its moribund peace plan, known as the "road map."
Militant organizations expressed disappointment. The Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades said the changes would fail to stem corruption that riddles the security forces and threatened to take the law into its own hands.
The political crisis was precipitated by the kidnapping of two top security officials and four French charity workers in the Gaza Strip by militant organizations on Friday.
All were released unharmed after a few hours, but the abductions reflected the anger on the streets at the perceived ineffectiveness of the Palestinian Authority.
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