RAMALLAH, West Bank, July 18 (AFP) - Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat tried Sunday to persuade his premier to reverse a decision to quit amid widespread protests against the appointment of his nephew as head of the main security service.
Ararat and prime minister Ahmed Qorei held four hours of talks at the veteran leader`s headquarters in this West Bank city in a bid to resolve a damaging political crisis sparked when the premier tendered his resignation on Saturday after an unprecedented spate of kidnappings in the Gaza Strip.
Arafat did not emerge from his offices while Qorei made no comment to reporters.
But negotiations minister Saeb Erakat, who attended the talks, confirmed that Qorei was still in his position but the two men had not reached agreement.
"We had very in-depth discussions about all issues, how to limit the damage and what measures were needed to restore the rule of law," he told AFP.
"President Arafat rejected completely the resignation of Abu Alaa (Qorei) and, according to the law, if the Palestinian leader rejects the resignation the resignation is not effective."
The two men were expected to hold further talks at a meeting of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) in the evening.
Qorei has been fighting for greater control of the security services ever since he came to power 10 months ago but Arafat has resisted calls to loosen his grip which allows him to exercise the lion`s share of power in the Palestinian territories.
The Palestinian turmoil erupted ahead of an expected vote at the UN General Assembly on Monday on a resolution pressing Israel to accept a world court ruling and tear down part of its controversial West Bank barrier.
Arafat sought to defuse the internal row on Saturday by cutting the number of security services from eight to just three but the move appears to have merely inflamed the situation, with widespread anger that his nephew Musa has been named head of general security.
Thousands of Palestinians took to the streets of Gaza City late Saturday to denounce the appointment while members of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an armed faction loyal to Arafat, torched the local offices of the military intelligence service in the southern Gaza town of Khan Yunis overnight.
"This is a clear message to the corrupt Musa Arafat that we will not allow his appointment to pass and that he should resign," the Brigades said in a statement.
Witnesses said a small number of prisoners and weapons had been taken from the building.
Several hundred Al-Aqsa supporters also took to the streets of the West Bank town of Tulkarem to protest the appointment.
But Musa Arafat said he had no intention of stepping aside.
"I will not resign from the position to which I have been appointed," he told reporters in Gaza City. "The only one who can fire me is the one who appointed me.
"This is not the first crisis that the Palestinian cause has faced but it will pass," he added
However the sense of crisis was further underlined when the head of the small Palestinian naval police force announced that he was resigning.
General Djumah Ghali described the security situation to AFP as "chaotic", adding in his resignation letter that his force was "unable to fulfill its mission."
Under the terms of the security revamp, Ghali`s force has come under Musa Arafat`s authority.
Erakat said that the new heads of the three security branches "deserve a chance" to prove their credentials and restore law and order.
But there were signs that patience with Arafat, who has been at the forefront of the Palestinian leadership for the last four decades, was running out.
Sofian Abu Zaida, a senior member of the mainstream Fatah organisation, indicated that it was time for Arafat to leave the scene.
"What is new since yesterday (Saturday) is that for the Palestinians, there are no more sacred cows," he told local radio. "The people are just fed up."
"The respect in which we hold Yasser Arafat as a symbol of the Palestinian struggle will always remain and is still sacred. What cannot go on any longer is his method of administration."
Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert warned that moderate and radical Palestinians were becoming locked in an "inevitable" power struggle.
"It`s possible that (the Palestinians) will try to blame us for the current situation in the Gaza Strip," Olmert told public radio.
"But that does not change the fact that an inevitable internal struggle is unfolding which will finally be won by those who are more moderate and responsible, and ready to negotiate and not those who want to pursue murders and killings," he said.