New Palestinian PM sworn in
2003-04-30 12:38
Ramallah - The new Palestinian cabinet of moderate prime minister Mahmud Abbas was sworn in by veteran leader Yasser Arafat Wednesday, opening the way to swift presentation of a new international peace plan which has been on ice since December.
Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, was sworn in with his new ministerial line-up by Arafat in front of representatives of the international diplomatic quartet, whose members said the peace plan they had drawn up would be presented to the premier later on Wednesday.
"The Quartet will present the roadmap at 17:00 (16:00 SA time) to the new prime minister," said UN envoy Terje Roed-Larsen. He was accompanied by EU envoy Miguel Moratinos and Russia's Andrei Vdovin, although the US representative of the quartet was not present.
The US embassy could not immediately confirm whether a US envoy would be present when Abbas receives the roadmap, a step-by-step plan aimed at ending the 31-month conflict and establishing a Palestinian state within three years.
Abbas told parliament on Tuesday as he faced a confidence vote that he would crack down on the violence that is raging in the Palestinian territories and collect illegal weapons, although hours later a suicide bomber linked to his own Fatah faction killed three people in a Tel Aviv bar.
Palestinian foreign affairs minister Nabil Shaath said a copy of the roadmap will also be handed simultaneously to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, though this could not immediately be confirmed.