JENIN, West Bank, July 27 (AFP) - Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat appointed Tuesday a new governor for the northern West Bank district of Jenin, the new appointee told AFP.
Qaddura Musa said his new job was effective Tuesday.
The 50-year-old is the secretary general of Arafat's Fatah movement in the Jenin district. It was unclear whether he would keep both functions.
The position had been left vacant since previous governor Haidar Irsheed was forced to quit his job over allegations of corruption a year ago.
Members of Fatah's armed wing -- the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades -- had publicly beaten and threatened to killed him in July 2003.
Arafat gave in to the group's demand to dismiss Irsheed.
The kidnapping was the first by a Palestinian militant group of a senior official of the Palestinian Authority.