Arafat admits mistakes by officials

In a much anticipated keynote speech to members of the Palestinian parliament, the 75-year-old also accused Israel of trying to sabotage his government and of wrecking the peace process with its continued settlement activity and its building of the West Bank separation barrier.

"Some unacceptable mistakes have been made by our institutions and some have abused their positions and violated the trust that has been placed in them," Arafat said.

Mass demonstrations were held both within the Gaza Strip and the West Bank last month in protest at the rampant corruption in the Palestinian Authority, representing arguably the biggest challenge to his authority since his return from exile a decade earlier.

The protests also came amid a general collapse in security, which included an unprecedented spate of kidnappings and arson attacks on government buildings.

Arafat admitted that "no real effor|s have been made to enforce law and order".

"More efforts and support should be made for the security of the people and this is |he responsibility of the security organisations," he added.

Qorei submitted his resignation last month after the kidnappings but he later retracted his move after lengthy mediation efforts involving other senior Palestinian and deputies.

With Qorei sitting alongside Arafat in the headquarters known as the Muqataa, Arafat again said he would do everything in his power to help the premier tackle the security situation.

"I support my brother Abu Alaa (Qorei) and I give him my full support to implement this."

World leaders, including UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and US Secretary of State Colin Powell, have been pushing Arafat to loosen his grip over the security services which allow him to still exercise the lion's share of power in the territories.

While acknowledging the mistakes by his own officials, Arafat accused the Israeli government of trying to wreck the Palestinian government.

"Israel has not stopped for a minute its campaign to end our Palestinian National Authority but this will all be in vain," Arafat said.