EU's Solana Tells Arafat To Give PM The Power To Do His Job

AMMAN, July 20 (AFP) - The EU`s top foreign policy envoy Javier Solana, on a four-day tour of the Middle East, urged embattled Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to give his prime minister the powers to do his job properly.
Arafat is facing the strongest ever challenge to his authority in a political and security crisis which has seen unprecedented protests and a spate of kidnappings in the Gaza Strip against corruption.
Palestinian prime minister Ahmed Qorei quit in protest but Arafat rejected his resignation and the premier said Tuesday he will stay in the job for the moment.
"The message to Arafat is that we do want and we do recommend strongly that the prime minister should be empowered with his responsibilities, in the basic fields which are the pillars of a future state: security and economy," said Solana.
"I think that the manner to tackle the issue (of the Palestinian crisis) is having an efficient PM with power and abilities. What happened in the last few days is a very important signal and everybody should take good note (that) what is needed is order, law, good behaviour and vision for the future."
Solana said many people he spoke to wanted law and order and "are having less confidence in the leadership, and this is a bad signal."
He was speaking after talks with King Abdullah II and with Jordanian Foreign Minister Marwan Moasher on the Palestinian crisis as well as the situation in neighbouring Iraq.
"In the economic field, things are going better but in security, the number of groups and institutions is too many. We would like to see those groups more manageable, to be less in numbers, and to give the full responsibilities to the minister of interior who will depend directly to the PM."
Solana also had a message for Israel saying "we are ready in the EU to contribute in the cooperation in the disengagement from Gaza, we are willing to help and to contribute with Egypt and Palestinians and other countries."
Egypt announced in June that it could be prepared to send specialists to Gaza to help train a Palestinian police force needed to fill a perceived security gap once the Israelis pull out of the Gaza Strip, envisaged for 2005.
Solana is due also to visit Egypt and Israel.