Prime minister Ahmed Qorei has again threatened to resign over differences with Yasser Arafat ahead of a meeting of donor countries who help fund the Palestinian Authority, officials said Wednesday.

The pair are understood to have clashed on Tuesday over the timing of an international donors meeting in New York planned for next month, with Qorei arguing that it should be postponed while Arafat was pushing for representatives to attend the session as planned on September 23.

A senior Palestinian official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Qorei "had raised the possibility of resigning as he said he couldn't carry on working this way."

However Arafat later phoned Qorei on Wednesday in a bid to cool tempers, the source added.

Qorei formally submitted his resignation on July 17 but retracted his offer 10 days later after agreeing to bury the hatchet with Arafat.