AMMAN, July 23 (AFP) - Palestinian negotiations minister Saeb Erakat said here Friday the Palestinian territories were sliding into chaos amid violent protests against Yasser Arafat and a standoff between the Palestinian leader and his prime minister.
"What's happening is a dangerous drift toward chaos," Erakat told reporters after visiting former Palestinian information minister Nabil Amr, who is recovering in a hospital in the Jordanian capital after being shot.
"Some are presenting it as a power struggle, but that's false," he said.
Violent protests erupted last weekend after Arafat appointed his cousin Musa Arafat, who has been denounced by opponents as corrupt, as the new overall head of general security for all the territories.
Arafat later backtracked, saying Musa would only head up the general security branch in the Gaza Strip, rather than the whole of the Palestinian territories as initially indicated.
Palestinian premier Ahmed Qorei, who has been battling Arafat for control of the security services, also tendered his resignation last Saturday after a spate of kidnappings, but Arafat has refused accept it.
"If Israel considers chaos an alternative to the Palestinian Authority and that chaos will serve the peace process, they are completely mistaken," Erakat said.
Amr, a critic of Arafat, was shot several times last Tuesday in the West Bank. His condition was not considered life-threatening.