Palestinian PM hints at quitting next month

Palestinian political chaos triggered by power struggles between President Yasser Arafat and reform-minded deputies has combined with intractable violence on the ground to stymie the "road map" to a Palestinian state in Israeli-occupied territory.

Asked about his plans following a meeting of Arafat's Fatah faction, Qurie said: "The same (five-day-old) government will continue for another 25 days, and after that there will be a new government and a new prime minister also."

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But officials close to Qurie said he was not necessarily ruling out continuing in office if he obtained the cabinet roster of his choice. Negotiations to overcome Qurie's differences with Arafat were likely in the coming weeks.

After three days of fighting that killed eight Palestinians and left more than 1,000 homeless, Israel withdrew most forces from the large Gaza Strip refugee camp of Rafah Sunday, three days after they swooped on suspected arms-smuggling tunnels.

Palestinian militants operating elsewhere in Gaza fired three Qassam rockets into the nearby western Negev desert region of Israel. No casualties or serious damage were reported.

Aides to Arafat, 74, said he had fully recovered from a stomach illness and chaired a meeting of Fatah's executive that sewed up a deal for Qurie to run the emergency cabinet for 30 days without an interior minister.

The accord put in abeyance Qurie's threat last week to resign over Arafat's rejection of his nominee for interior minister, Nasser Youssef. The interior minister would oversee any steps to rein in militants hostile to peace negotiations.