& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

Arafat signs premiership law as Israel kills more Hamas leaders

AFP, Jerusalem
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat signed into law a bill creating a post of prime minister to share power with him, as Israeli troops killed two top Hamas militants in the West Bank.
Earlier in the day, the parliament voted by 69 votes to one to appoint the premier who will control domestic affairs and internal security issues while foreign policy and national security will stay in Arafat's hands.
The move is a key reform demanded by Israel and the United States, as well as by Palestinian legislators who accuse the current administration of corruption and mismanagement.
Mahmud Abbas, the second-incommand of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), has been nominated as prime minister but has not said whether the powers attached to the post will be enough to lure him into accepting the job, which he wants to use to launch substantive reforms.
"President Arafat signed Tuesday night the law creating a Palestinian prime minister," top aide Nabil Abu Rudeina told AFP.
"The text must now be published in the official gazette, after which it will be possible to proceed to investing Mr. Mahmud Abbas in this post."
The parliament had adjourned on Monday after Arafat loyalists failed to push through an amended version of the law under which the Palestinian leader would retain the right to hire or fire ministers.
Reformist lawmakers challenged Arafat's autocratic hold on power when they blocked the changes he had proposed from being passed as an integral part of the bill. Under the compromise reached on Tuesday, an interpretative memorandum was attached to the bill stipulating that any new cabinet would be presented to the head of the Palestinian Authority, officials said.
It did not specify if Arafat would have the right to appoint or dismiss ministers, officials said.
The move was welcomed as a breakthrough by reformers, including those inside Arafat's own Fatah faction.
"This is the start of a new political democratic system that will allow the separation of powers," said Fatah MP Qaddura Fares.
Arafat loyalists played down Monday's snub, as Washington and London praised the move towards appointing a premier, seen as essential to overhauling the much-criticised administration and marginalising Arafat, whom Israel and the United States regard as a failed peace partner.
In a bid to boost the cause of reform, US Secretary of State Colin Powell on Sunday said he would invite the new premier to Washington for talks, by far the most generous offer made by the US administration in months.
The appointment of Abbas will put pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to make concessions after lauding the PLO moderate and holding secret talks with him.
As the Palestinian administration moved its reforms up a gear, Israel moved its deadly attacks on the radical Islamic group Hamas from the Gaza Strip to the West Bank.